Bruce Almighty - Movie Review

Caitlin Borger

REL 200-01

Glennon

October 9, 2016

Film Review: Bruce Almighty

        The theme of the movie Bruce Almighty, directed by Tom Shadyac, is that even when you have control over everything, it is not as good as you think it will be. Shadyac’s motive in this film was to help people realize that things happen for a reason. Even if you could control everything in the world it wouldn't turn out the way that you had originally intended. When people have bad things happen to them, they ask God why. They ask him what have they done to deserve this bad thing, or what good could come from something so terrible. Shadyac is trying to prove that everything is as it is intended to be. Everything bad or good that has happened to you has a purpose and you shouldn't try and alter that. People try so hard to change or fix the bad things that happen to them, but you just need to buck up, make the bets of the situation, and wait for what comes next.

        Bruce is struggling with life. With competition in his job, he ends up being fired, getting beaten up by a group of street thugs, begins fighting with his girlfriend, Grace, and crashes his car into a street lamp all in one day. After almost completely giving up, he meets God. God bestows his powers upon Bruce. At first he starts to use his powers for personal gain, then he starts to misuse his powers. God come to Bruce and tells him he needs to help people. He then kisses another woman and Grace happens to see it. Grace immediately leaves Bruce, and he uses his powers to try and win her back but it does not work. Bruce is now miserable again. Just as he was about to surrender his powers back, he gets hit by a truck. He wakes up in the hospital to Grace standing there waiting for him. Bruce realizes his faults, and apologizes to her.

        When Bruce first starts using his powers he sets up a date with Grace. He tries to make the night perfect, so he brings the moon closer to them to help set the mood. This causes a severe tidal wave in Japan causing the need for rescue squads.

        At the party celebrating his new anchor position, his co-anchor, so aroused by his new fame, kisses Bruce. Grace happens to walk into the party as she does this, and is so upset that she leaves Bruce. Bruce is miserable without Grace. He uses his powers to look at the prayers she has sent God. When he reads them he realizes that they are all about him. Bruce goes to her window and sees her crying and praying to God. Bruce never wanted to hurt Grace. He had not planned for that woman to kiss him, it was just an outcome of the fame and success he had caused for himself. These scenes prove Shadyac’s theme; that everything happens for a reason, and you mustn't try and alter what happens.

        In the scene when Bruce is on air for the first time as a news anchor, things don't go as smoothly as he had hoped. The power goes out, twice, because a transformer is down from the asteroid that he had hit earth in order for him to have a ground breaking news story. Also during his first time on air he gets immediately cut off because the Buffalo Sabres won the Stanley Cup, which he caused to happen. The news station then gets breaking news that the people of Buffalo are rioting outside the station. Bruce helped everyone who prayed to win the lottery, win, but because so many people won the winners only received seventeen dollars. These people, along with the fans of the Buffalo Sabres are flipping cars, setting things on fire and running through the streets. All Bruce wanted was to be an anchor. Now that he is, his first air time is a disaster, because of all of the events he caused to happen. This scene is a prime example of how altering the way things are supposed to go, directly changes the outcome of something else.

        When God gives Bruce his powers he mentions the only two rules to having them; number one, he could not tell anyone that he is God, and number two, he is not allowed to mess with free will. He struggles with this when Grace leaves him. He tries everything in his power to get her back, but he can’t alter her free will. Even God can’t give everyone what they want all the time. God also says to Bruce “people want me to do everything for them, but what they don't realize, is they have the power.” These lines show how people have the ability to make their own choices and to make miracles; however, ultimately these choices will have happened for a specific purpose. They may not be the purposes we originally thought, but will lead to the bigger picture.