Don't listen to the bad reviews

Rating: Null/10 (3 December 2003)

Wow, what a surprise - a Hollywood film that portrays the Jewish/Christian God in a positive light (and he's black! I know that's gonna cause a lot of problems with the fundamentalists!)
I was a bit worried that it would be blasphemous and irreverant, and that at the most I would get a few guilty laughs out of it. Much to my shock, it turned out to be a wonderful movie. Jim Carrey does a great job portraying Bruce, a man whose life isn't going as well as he thinks it should. He blames God for every one of his failures in life, and some of the things he says COULD be considered blasphemous, but this story is really about a man who starts off thinking that money, job status, and the recognition of his peers is what life is all about. However, throughout the course of the movie, and through his meetings with God, he learns what's really important in life, and of course these things are: a relationship with the Creator, love, compassion, and selflessness. Bruce goes from a self-pitying jerk who thinks that God and the world owe him something, to a kind and caring man who puts others before himself. I know that in today's jaded, "me first" kind of world, a movie with a message like that isn't going to impress people (and that's pretty sad, when you think about it), but instead it's going to be called "lame", "preachy", "corny", "sappy", and a million other derogatory terms. Well, if you are a person who doesn't really care about majority opinion, then you will see this movie in spite of the bad reviews and decide for yourself, and you may even enjoy it. On the other hand, if you're a person who is easily swayed by critics, or overly religious (yes, that's possible), or someone who can't enjoy a film that lacks a nihilistic, cynical message, then avoid this because you will hate it.

I know I'm buying the DVD.