Bruce Almighty

In the comedy Bruce Almighty the rubber-faced Jim Carrey plays the insufferably self-absorbed Bruce Nolan, who feels dogged by bad luck. His great dream is to become a news anchor, but he is always overtaken by his rivals at the news channel. So he gives God a thorough dressing-down.

Then it happens that God hears his prayer and hands Bruce his omnipotence in the city of Buffalo while he himself takes a much-needed holiday. Bruce uses his newly acquired power to advance his languishing career, and suddenly he sees all his dreams come true. Gradually, however, he realises that the role of God demands far more of him than he can live up to. Things start to go wrong, and they go completely wrong when his sweet girlfriend Grace loses patience with his oversized ego and leaves him.

Jim Carrey is given a little too free a rein in Tom Shadyac's direction, for in the long run Carrey's mannered acting style becomes too exhausting. Carrey and Shadyac also worked together on "Liar Liar", and there are several similarities between the two films. The basic idea of Bruce Almighty gives rise to many funny episodes, but it is not developed enough to sustain a whole film, so towards the end the film falls flat. In the end you are just sitting waiting for the inevitable moral.