Rating: 
Summary: Almighty Funny
Review: "Bruce Almighty" is hysterically funny and yet poignant. The film will surprise you with its scope and depth along with its comedy. Jim Carrey incorporates his normal comedic style with a range of other emotions from happy-go-lucky, to frustrated, to selfish, to understand and then to very loving. Bruce Nolan (Carrey) frustrated with his television career on Buffalo's Channel 7 News thinks God isn't being fair by not allowing him to get the anchor position. On an open highway in the middle of the night Bruce challenges God outright about the way He's running his life. Accepting the challenge, God decides to introduce Himself to Bruce by paging him to come to an empty warehouse. Upon meeting, God proposes giving Bruce all His powers to run the world. Believing this to be a piece of cake, Bruce doesn't anticipate the many aspects of being God like the millions of prayers that need to be answered or the egotistical wants that need to be refused. Bruce also learns that with power come responsibility and consequence. Jennifer Aniston is Grace the girlfriend and a day care center teacher. This role is not a great stretch for Aniston, but who other than Morgan Freeman could get away with playing God. The ending will enlighten your heart.
Rating:
Summary: What's not to like?
Review: Sure, avoid this if you want great depth and philosophical exploration. But if you're seeking a fun movie with numerous *major* laughs, then go for it. The DVD features are good--one of the few instances where the deleted scenes are just as funny as what got cut. Maybe funnier, in a couple of instances. Especially the bit with Jennifer Aniston in line at the supermarket. Worth a look! The DVD transfer is top-notch, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Almighty Jim!
Review: It's been three years since we got a real Jim Carrey comedy. The last being "Me, Myself & Irene". While Jim tried to expand his talents with more straight films like "The Truman Show", "Man On The Moon", and "The Majestic", fans were starting to miss what they first fell for Jim in the first place. Comedy. This movie is a relief to those of us who have been waiting to see Jim return to comedy. However, this isn't the manic, over the top frenzy kind of comedy that made Jim famous for in the 90's with fare like "Ace Ventura" and "Dumb And Dumber". Sure, some of the zaniness and physical aspect of it is there, but it's not as much as usual. Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a field correspondent for the local Buffalo news station who usually covers the more heartwarming and human stories that normally end the newscasts. Things aren't going his way. He wants an anchor job that he eventually loses to a smarmy co-worker(Steve Carell), a dog that urinates all over the apartment, and on top of that, he gets beat up. On the upside, Bruce does have a great girlfriend named Grace, who is played by Jennifer Aniston and looks really good in this film. After Bruce's whining and complaining to God over his less than stellar life, the big man himself(played with the right amount of presence and magic by Morgan Freeman) pays Bruce a visit and offers Bruce his powers while he is on vacation. This is where the fillm starts to pick up speed and starts to let Carrey let loose and have fun. Naturally, as anyone would, Bruce lets his powers get to him and abuses them for his own purposes. When he tries to make some good in the world with his newfound abilities, well, chaos abounds. This isn't exactly an inventive idea. How many times have we seen a film where someone gets powers, or gets a second chance, or gets to trade places with somebody?. Lots of times. So, while it isn't exactly a revolutionary idea, the film rises above all others because those movies didn't have Jim Carrey. He really brings Bruce to life in the beginning of the film by making him seem like a loveable loser in a slump with life. Some say he was very unlikeable, but he was exactly the opposite. He was likeable. He was having a bad time. Not once did I not like, or feel, for the character. Carrey was able to play it with a straight face during these times, and he didn't look like he was always on the verge of a laugh or saying something funny. As some critics have stated. What was surprising, and somewhat disappointing, was how Carrey was more restrained than you would of thought. There are moments of silliness and some old Carrey schtick, but he doesn't go over the top like the good 'ol days in the 90's. His comedic performance in the film was a balance between the physical comedy of "Liar Liar", but with the heart and solidness of his "The Truman Show" era. One would of wished it had been kicked into higher gear, but it is good nonetheless. Aniston does what she can with the usual "I've been dating this guy for 5 years and I want a wedding and kids" girlfriend role, but she manages to bring some heart and emotion to the predictable supporting role. Morgan Freeman was a nice bit of casting as the almighty one himself. His scenes are not very long, but he really brings it and makes the most of his scenes. "Jag" star Catherine Bell appears in the film as well, as does character actor Phillip Baker Hall as Bruce's boss. Steve Carell as the slimy co-worker gets one of the funniest scenes in the movie by having a breakdown on the set thanks to Bruce. The extra features on the disc are a lot of fun. Some of the outtakes and deleted scenes are hilarious and you would wish that some of them had ended up in the finished product. As some other reviews had stated, the commercial ads on this disc are annoying and they don't allow you to skip through them. However, I found that if you hit 'menu' on your control, it will come up and you can get through those annoying ads. So, this film is a lot of fun and it has a really nice feeling to it. It has heart, it has emotion, and it's funny. It is a pleasant and enjoyable film to kill a few hours. Jim Carrey is really good, and if this is the place he's at now in his career, then it's a mighty fine place to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Over Hyped
Review: Everyone raved about this film, I got around to seeing it finally and am wondering what is the big deal...The special effects are fake looking, too much obvious blue screen usage. The newsman Jim Carrey was competing against for anchorman gave the best performance when he freaked out in front of the camera. Jennifer Anniston also gave a good performance, especially when she was asking God to help her get over Jim Carrey, and that she didn't want to hurt anymore...I can relate to that prayer...
Rating: 
Summary: Jim Carrey with a great performance
Review: I have to say this movie will keep you laughing for a while. If not Ha Ha funny, at least keep you smiling. Bruce (Carrey) is given Gods powers for a small area in which he lives in and not only gets revenge against people that screwed him in the past (work, thugs, and society) he tries to make his life better and whoo his girlfriend even more. Yes in the end he learns he never needed the powers and had it within him always and that his girlfriend liked him for who he was but think about it for all you people out there that think that its not that funny or "that wouldn't happen that way". If you were Bruce and you had those powers, I would probably do exactly the same thing, lol, i would probably do worse too. All in all a good movie, even if you hate Carreys comedy, you gotta love the comedy of the movie itself.
Rating:
Summary: That's the way the Cookie Crumbles
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that I really wanted to like this movie. Unfortunately I got bogged down in Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey to enjoy the movie more. Now, I'm all for physical comedy but after several movies its starting to get old.One of the problems I had with this film is that Carrey's character Bruce Nolan is so unlikable for most of the movie it's to feel much sympathy for him at the end. Carrey plays Bruce Nolan who feels that his world is falling apart because God is not giving him what he feels that he deserves. After being passed over at work Bruce curses God. Following an unusual series of pages Bruce goes to what he thinks is a job interview at Omni Presents where he meets the Almighty in the human form of Morgan Freeman. God informs Bruce that he is taking a short vacation leaving Bruce with all his powers. The middle third of the film shows how the somewhat selfish Bruce utilizes these powers.The other leads in the film are Jennifer Aniston as Bruce's fiance Grace and Philip Baker Hall as his boss. The talent is available in the movie but it is underused simply as a showcase for Carrey's comedy. Perhaps the strongest part of this DVD is the always good commentary by Tom Shadyac who explains the plot and spiritual elements that he was working towards. Included are a series of outtakes and deleted scenes. Neither of these features is anything to write home about but do provide an interesting few moments. A real downside to this disc and all of Universal's current offerings is the forced viewing of trailers before one ever accesses a menu. I don't want to see these trailers everytime I put the disc iun the player. Universal simply needs to find a better way to present thgis material. This is a light viewing experience which had the potential to be much greater than it actually was.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and meaningful
Review: Jim Carrey is hilarious. There are a couple of scenes in this movie that my wife and I have watched several times, and we still fall out of our chairs laughing. Yet this movie has some meaning behind it, too. Jim's character, Bruce, uses the powers of God (that God himself has temporarily given him) in very selfish ways. In doing so, he hurts others. He finally realizes that. But it is through that realization that God teaches him that he (Bruce) has the power to make things better. That power doesn't come from being able to zap things but from choosing to love unconditionally. GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT!
Rating:
Summary: good move
Review: I like this movie, alot of the movie was hilarious; especially that part where he makes that guy say stuff. Bruce isn't god in this movie, he just has god's powers and stuff. I thought towards the ending got a little boring, and wasn't as funny, but maybe that wasn't the point of this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Why Oh WHY IS THERE A CITIBANK VISA AD ON THIS DVD?!??!!???
Review: Very funny movie. Excellent performances, especially Steve Carrell as a scene stealing anchorman, but why oh why does there need to be a friggin' VISA CARD AD under the "bonus" features on this DVD?? Why oh why did UNIVERSAL Pictures feel the need to ruin this DVD in such a cheap manner? Who is the brain surgeon in their cheapskate marketing department who thought this was a good idea?? Whoever it was, I guarantee you it was one of those workers parodied in OFFICE SPACE and THE OFFICE. I really feel bad for that cubicle-living pencil pusher.
Rating:
Summary: Forced Previews
Review: I do not recommend this or any other DVD distributed by Universal. Universal Studios has a policy of forcing viewers to watch previews BEFORE reaching the main DVD menu. Viewers are unable to hit STOP, MENU, TITLE, etc. This is not a consumer-friendly feature. Universal could easily allow viewers to skip the previews, or watch the previews through a menu option. Instead owners are forced to watch previews and commercials before any ability to play or use other features of the DVD. Too bad, because I liked Bruce Almighty -- but the DVD is worthless.
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