Bruce Almighty

REVIEW
After trying a different career path with The Truman Show and The Majestic, Carrey is back in the kind of high-concept comedy that has made him one of the top box-office attractions of the '90s. Unfortunately, in addition to the return of wacky Jim and numerous big laughs are also the pitfalls that have defined most of his comedies. The concept here is a doozy: TV news reporter Bruce Nolan (Carrey) curses God after a series of setbacks (losing his job, crashing his car, etc.) only to have the Creator bestow on Bruce His almighty powers. As portrayed by Freeman, God (a Yankees fan, by the way, which explains a lot) is a benign deity who happily hands over His job to Bruce, allowing Him a first vacation since the Dark Ages. Bruce then sets forth to put right his life. And that's when the film begins to fall apart. Beyond a few good sight gags and a hilarious newscast, Bruce uses his powers for the mundane, mostly trying to get back with his girlfriend (Aniston), which almost brings the film to a halt. Sappy and sentimental when it should zing, the story never allows Carrey to get totally wild and crazy, failing to fully exploit what Jim Carrey could really do with such power. Carrey is actually quite good, and Freeman in his couple of scenes is a joy, but the filmmakers seem content in producing only a few amusing jokes when the sky, the world, the universe was the limit.