Bruce Almighty

Bruce Almighty, The Movie
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Tom Shadyac
Produced by	Tom Shadyac Jim Carrey James D. Brubaker Michael Bostick Steve Koren Mark O'Keefe Associate Producer: Linda Fields Jonathan Watson Janet L. Wattles Executive Producer: Gary Barber Roger Birnbaum Steve Oedekerk
Written by	Steve Oedekerk Steve Koren Mark O'Keefe
Starring	Jim Carrey Morgan Freeman Jennifer Aniston Lisa Ann Walter Philip Baker Hall Steve Carell Catherine Bell
Music by	John Debney
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Editing by	Scott Hill
Studio	Spyglass Entertainment Shady Acres Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (USA) Buena Vista Pictures (non-USA)
Release date(s)	May 23, 2003 (2003-05-23)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$81 million[1]
Box office	$484,592,874[1]

Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains that God isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try being God himself for one week. Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Catherine Bell, Lisa Ann Walter, and Philip Baker Hall also star, while Tony Bennett makes a cameo appearance.

This is Tom Shadyac and Jim Carrey's third collaboration after working together in Shadyac's first film, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, which also launched Carrey's career. Six years earlier, Shadyac and Carrey worked together to make the successful 1997 film, Liar Liar.

The film was a box office success despite mixed reviews from critics. When released in American theaters in May 2003, it took the #1 spot at the box office, grossing $85.89 million, higher than the release of Pearl Harbor, making it the highest-rated Memorial Day weekend opening of any film in motion picture history until the release of X-Men: The Last Stand over Memorial Day 2006.^[2] The movie surprised media analysts when it beat The Matrix Reloaded after its first week of release. By the time it left theaters in December 2003, it took in a United States domestic total of over $242 million and $484 million worldwide, breaking records as the 17th highest-grossing live action comedy of all time.^[1]

Plot

Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) is a television field reporter for Eyewitness News on WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York, who, through his continuous coverage of media interest stories, rather than hard news, is unsuccessful at getting a job as an anchorman. He is in love with his girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston), but is also very attracted to his gorgeous co-worker Susan (Catherine Bell) who doesn't even notice him. When anticipating a promotion to a vacant anchor position, and while on the air, Bruce becomes furious when he hears that rival co-worker Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) gets promoted and he gets fired. After Bruce gets fired from his job, he complains to God (Morgan Freeman) that He is treating him (Bruce) unfairly and is doing a poor job as supreme deity. God then contacts Bruce and grants Bruce all of His powers so as to prove he can do a better job. The only limitations are that Bruce cannot tell people he is God, and he cannot interfere with free will. Bruce uses his new-found omnipotent powers for personal gain — he gets revenge on a street gang that assaulted him earlier in the film, acquires a Saleen S7 sports car, gets his job back by uncovering the corpse of Jimmy Hoffa and makes his girlfriend's breasts bigger. However, he is routinely bothered by a cacophony of voices which only he can hear.

Bruce uses God's powers to gain the reputation "Mr. Exclusive" by causing exciting news, such as a meteor impact, to occur whenever he is reporting. He also forces Evan to humiliate himself on air, and Evan is removed as anchor in favor of Bruce. Bruce takes Grace to dinner to tell her this, and Grace is disappointed as she was expecting him to propose. As Bruce is once again overwhelmed by voices, God appears to him and tells Bruce the voices are prayers, and will continue to build up if not answered. He also confronts Bruce on using his powers for personal gain and not helping people. Reading the prayers in the form of e-mails, Bruce attempts to answer them individually, but discovers he is receiving prayers faster than he can respond. Bruce decides to set his e-mail account to automatically answer "yes" to all prayers, assuming this will make everyone happy.

At a party to celebrate his promotion, Bruce attempts to call Grace to get her to come but she doesn't pick up. However, when Grace arrives, Bruce is then seduced by Susan who passionately kisses him. Grace witnesses this and leaves him. Bruce tries to use his powers to win her back but cannot, as he is not allowed to interfere with free will. Bruce finds that his abuse of his powers have consequences: some people take the meteor impact and other phenomena as signs of the apocalypse while others are outraged over thousands winning the lottery—resulting in each person only winning around $17—and a riot breaks out in the city. Brought before God again, Bruce protests that he only gave people what they wanted, and God tells Bruce that people need to stop looking to him for answers. Bruce begins to solve the problems in his life practically, and helps people personally, such as a homeless man who has appeared to him at times holding philosophical signs. That evening, Bruce decides to look at the prayers Grace has sent and discovers she continually prayed for his success and well-being. As a new prayer begins to arrive, Bruce goes to witness Grace praying in person, and hears her wishing to not be in love with him any more so she will stop hurting.

Depressed, Bruce walks on to a highway and submits to God, asking him to take back his powers and trusting him with his (Bruce's) fate. Bruce is suddenly struck by a truck and is brought before God in a white void. God asks Bruce what he really wants, and assuming he is dead, Bruce asks that Grace find a man who may make her truly happy and see her through God's eyes, even if it is not Bruce. God agrees and revives Bruce, who wakes up in the hospital to be told "someone up there" favors him. Bruce and Grace reconcile and become engaged, and Bruce gives Evan the anchor position back, going back to his old unglamorous stories and taking a new delight in them. The ending scene features a slow close-up of the homeless man, whose image morphs slightly and he is revealed to be God.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan
• Morgan Freeman as God
• Jennifer Aniston as Grace Connelly
• Lisa Ann Walter as Debbie Connelly
• Philip Baker Hall as Jack Baylor
• Steve Carell as Evan Baxter
• Catherine Bell as Susan Ortega
• Sally Kirkland as Anita Mann
• Nora Dunn as Ally Loman
• Eddie Jemison as Bobby
• Tony Bennett as Himself
• Madeline Lovejoy as Zoe
• Micah Stephen Williams as Boy on bike

Reception

The movie received mixed reviews with a score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 181 reviews^[3] and a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 on Metacritic.^[4] It received a B rating at Box Office Mojo and a score of 6.5 on Internet Movie Database. The film took nearly $243 million at the box office, making it Jim Carrey's most successful film since 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (also released by Universal).

Original screenwriters Mark O'Keefe and Steve Koren wrote Bruce Almighty as an original spec script and put it on the open market. Universal Studios immediately bought the original script. As with every major blockbuster, several sources came forward seeking post success credit.^{[citation needed]}

Robert Bausch, the author of Almighty Me, contends that his book was the creative source for this film.^[5]

The movie was banned in Egypt and Malaysia due to pressure from Islamic religious circuits who objected to the portrayal of God as a visually ordinary man. The ban in Malaysia was eventually lifted after the Censorship Board gave it the "18PL" rating (suitable for adult viewers only for a combination of two or more of the given parental ratings).^[6][7][8]

The film caused controversy because God contacts Bruce using an actual phone number rather than a number in the standard fictional 555 telephone exchange. Several people and groups sharing this number have received hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to talk to God. The producers note that the number chosen was not in use in the area code (716, which was never specified on screen) the film is set in, but did not check anywhere else. The home video and television versions changed it to the fictional 555.^[9]

Related films

On June 22, 2007, a sequel to Bruce Almighty entitled Evan Almighty was released, with Steve Carell reprising to his role as Evan Baxter and Morgan Freeman returning to his role as God. Although Bruce Almighty director Tom Shadyac returned to direct the sequel, neither Jim Carrey nor Jennifer Aniston was involved with the film, though Carrey's character, Bruce, is mentioned in the new film's teaser trailer. The sequel was not as well received as the predecessor, being given a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 37/100 on MetaCritic.

The 2008 Hindi film God Tussi Great Ho is an adaptation of Bruce Almighty and almost every aspect of the original is used. The film stars Salman Khan as the protagonist and Amitabh Bachchan as God.

The 2009 Malayalam film Angel John was also an adaptation of Bruce Almighty. The film stars Mohanlal as the God and Shanthnoo Bhagyaraj as the protagonist.

Another Tamil film, Arai En 305-il Kadavul, which stars Santhanam as the protagonist and Prakash Raj as God, incorporates several story elements from Bruce Almighty. One exception is that, in the Tamil film, the protagonist steals God's powers rather than being gifted with them.

Soundtrack

Bruce Almighty: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by John Debney, Various Artists
Released	June 3, 2003
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Varèse Sarabande

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[10]

Tracklist

1. "One of Us" - Joan Osborne
2. "God-Shaped-Hole" - Plumb
3. "You're a God" - Vertical Horizon
4. "The Power" - Snap!
5. "A Little Less Conversation" - Elvis vs. JXL
6. "The Rockafeller Skank" - Fatboy Slim
7. "God Gave Me Everything" - Mick Jagger featuring Lenny Kravitz
8. "AB Positive"
9. "Walking on Water"
10. "Seventh at Seven"
11. "Bruce Meets God"
12. "Bruce's Prayer"
13. "Grace's Prayer"
14. "God's Prayer"

Tracks 9-14 are from the score composed by John Debney, performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony (conducted by Pete Anthony) with Brad Dechter and Sandy De Crescent.

Sequel

Main article: Evan Almighty

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Box Office Mojo - Bruce Almighty". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=brucealmighty.htm. 
2. ^ "Bruce Blesses Memorial Weekend with $85.7 Million". http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1246&p=.htm. 
3. ^ Rotten Tomatoes on Bruce Almighty
4. ^ Metacritic on Bruce Almighty
5. ^ "Robert Bausch - Almighty Me!". http://www.robertbausch.org/work3.htm. 
6. ^ "Middle East Online". http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7703. 
7. ^ "Bruce Almighty (2003) - Trivia". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315327/trivia. 
8. ^ "Malaysian Muslims call for ban on movie, AFP, Fri July 13, 2007". http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NTEyMjkzNTUx. 
9. ^ "Bruce Almighty". Joe does the Movies. http://www.joeclark.org/access/cinema/reviews/brucealmighty.html. 
10. ^ Phares, Heather. "Review: Bruce Almighty: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r643556. Retrieved 30 August 2009. 

External links

• Official website
• Bruce Almighty at the Internet Movie Database
• Bruce Almighty at AllRovi
• Bruce Almighty at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bruce Almighty at Box Office Mojo