Oh God! Book II

Rating:
Summary: Another Ungodly Sequel
Review: George Burns reprises his role of the Almighty in "Oh God! Book II", a 1980 sequel to the popular "Oh, God". Burns was great as an incarnation of the Deity in "Oh, God!" and with good direction by Carl Reiner, the movie was also good. He's still good in "Book II", yet the movie isn't.

Part of the problem is they didn't come up with a distinct and original story, a departure from what we got in the first film. The cover for the video reads "That's right, I made another movie," yet as far as I can see this is not another movie, but pretty much the same movie. It does (except for Burns) have different characters and therefore different situations, but from beginning to end "Book II" is all too similar to its predecessor.

Like its predecessor, the sequel has God coming back for the same reasons. "They are still not thinking about me," he says. "People have to be reminded I'm still around." This time, he chooses a young girl named Tracy (played by a where-is-she-now actress who just went by "Louanne") and like the late John Denver in the original, she is surprised when she gets a message to meet God. Also like Denver, she thinks it's a practical joke when she hears Burns' voice at the meeting place. But alas, like the first movie, she comes to believe and wants to get his message across.

Tracy's father (David Birney) is in advertising, so she tries to figure out a way to advertise God (as Denver did), finally coming up with the brilliant slogan "Think God". She then organizes a group of her fellow students in the school auditorium (how would be a good question) and proposes her plan to post signs and write "Think God" wherever they can.

Soon some kids can be seen crossing out some graffiti that says "Grass is good for you" to write "Think God". Later, Tracy's mother (Suzanne Pleshette) rationalizes to the school principal that "kids are going to write things on walls anyway, why not 'Think God'?" (What a dumb line. "Think God" is just as much graffiti as "Grass is good for you.")

Anyway, the similarity between the two films goes on right to the very end. I won't tell you the climax, but it's about as close as they could get within the context of the different characters. The denouement is also pretty much the same.

I liked "Oh, God!" but I can't recommend this sequel (reproduction) with its plastic characters and cutesy situations. George Burns is the standout, yet even he is just repeating his original good performance. They even have him spouting the same mistakes-of-nature type jokes. Warner Brothers really took the easy way out. They stayed with something that worked, and they played it safe. Don't fall for it.

Rating:
Summary: God in the 20th century
Review: I absolutely love this movie! One night when I was bored flipping the channels I found this movie and I am so glad that I did. It was a really creative twist on faith. A little girl thinks that God is telling her to post signs in her school saying "think God" and the whole rest goes from there. It is adorable, very creative and inspirational especially for people of faith; although it would cause some thinking in nonbelievers. The little girl is so cute and reminds me of myself when I was little. It's kind of funny how a little child was able to believe when the adults wouldn't. George Burns makes a great God in this movie. I'm going to make sure I own a copy of this movie. Make sure you watch it. The ending is really sweet. Also check out the first edition "Oh God" and Oh God, you Devil".

Rating:
Summary: Cute For Little Kids But Boring For Adults!
Review: I saw the movie Oh, God! Book II when I was a young girl and I loved it, I thought it was a very funny and cute story, I saw the movie again a while ago and though I still think it's a cute little movie I thought it was a bit boring and I had a hard time concentrating on the movie. In the movie God played by George Burns appears to a little girl named Tracey and with her Father being in the ad business she decides to start an ad campaign to spread the word, but all the adults including her parents think she's lost her marbles and she has to prove that she hasn't lost touch with reality. I thought then and still think that the actress named Louanne who played Tracey was adorable. I think it's a movie that children will probably like to watch but adults might be a little bored with it.