Very entertaining film

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2003)

I had seen various trailers for this movie, and I liked the premise and had high hopes that it would be an enjoyable movie. I was a little worried that it might border on heresy, but it looked like it would be very funny. I was not disappointed. The movie was quite enjoyable from start to finish.
As for the heresy part - I was certainly not offended in the least by the portrayal of God in this film. While I certainly don't think God would ever turn his powers over to someone like Bruce, everything else about the way Morgan Freeman portrayed God was perfectly acceptable, and in fact I thought his was the best performance of the movie.
While some felt the message of this movie was sappy or overdone, I really liked it. I really don't have a problem with a comedy trying to be something more than just humor, in fact I appreciate it when a movie of any genre tries to encourage people to be more than what they are. The message about prayer in this film was dead on, IMHO.
One final comment, the news anchor scene with Steven Carell was one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen in any movie. I laughed so hard that it hurt (and so did most everyone else in the theater), and there are only a few comedy sequences I can ever remember that even approach that. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.
Tom