Film squanders Carrey's talent

Rating: 4/10 (28 June 2003)

Jim Carrey is a very talented actor and he has done some amazing things on camera in other films but this script never allows him to showcase his abilities. The story is about a television news reporter in Buffalo named Bruce Nolan (Carrey) who wants to get the anchor job at his station but is instead given jobs like covering the worlds largest cookie or interviewing someone at Niagara Falls. He feels that his life is not going the way he expected and after several bad luck incidents he is blaming God for ignoring his needs. He lives with his girlfriend Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston) and she dreams of marrying Bruce. Bruce keeps getting paged and finally he calls the number that tells him to go to an address. He goes and meets God (Morgan Freeman) who tells him he is sick of Bruce blaming him for his problems so he is being given all his powers while he goes on vacation. Bruce and his new found powers go out and try to fix some of the things in his life. He teaches his dog to use the toilet and he also gives Grace bigger breasts. He also uses the powers for some unexpected happenings when he is reporting like a comet coming to Earth or discovering Jimmy Hoffa's body! Bruce tries to make everyone happy (Especially himself) but loses Grace when she see's Bruce's co-worker Susan (Catherine Bell) kiss him at a party. The films story should have given Carrey all sorts of opportunities to use his natural comedic gifts but unfortunately it does not. Instead, the script only gives him opportunities to react to humorous situations going on around him. The story is simple and silly but thats okay. The story of "Liar,Liar" was silly also but that script gave Carrey the chance to show some of his best physical comedy put on film! This script wastes the enormous talent that it had to embody the story. This film does have some genuine laughs in it like when Bruce uses his power to make the news anchor sputter gibberish on the air or when he turns on Grace before a night of lovemaking. Only in a few moments do we see Carrey's real talent and the one scene that stands out is when he does his Clint Eastwood impersonation while in his car. Thats Carrey using his natural gifts but these are only fleeting moments. I wasn't a fan of the "Ace Ventura" films but they did one thing right. They allowed Carrey to explode with his natural comedic talent. This film doesn't do that. Instead, the script harness's Carrey and all he has to do is react to the situations at hand. Film does deliver some real laughs but the rest of the time I was waiting to see if Carrey could emerge from the contrived story. Unfortunately, he does not!