Bruce Almighty
Jim Carrey makes a triumphant return to the comedy circuit after a disappointing turn at serious acting in The Majestic, which I didn't think was all too bad, but everyone else seemed to think so. Here, in Bruce Almighty, he plays Bruce Nolan, a news reporter covering the lighter side of events in Buffalo, anxiously awaiting his turn as news anchor. When he's dealt a string of bad luck, including losing out on the anchor position, he blames God for his troubles. God hears him and brings him to his lair at an abandoned warehouse in town and in the form of Morgan Freeman, gives Bruce all his powers to see if he can do as well as God can. The power rushes to Bruce's head and soon does the little things that makes his own life better, forgetting all the others who need help. In this sudden enjoyment, he forgets about his one true love, Grace, played by Jennifer Aniston, and soon regrets the whole thing ever happened.

Side comment: If you're dumb enough to call God's phone number, 776-2323 as given in this movie, maybe you need help in another form.

Carrey has tried comedy and drama and seems to try to meld the two together in this movie, as he did in the better "Liar, Liar", also directed by Tom Shadyac. He certainly shows his comedic chops in this one, both physically and verbally. But the transition from the fun and goofiness to the seriousness of fixing what he's done is poor. We're never meant to care for the relationship of Bruce and Grace as we did for Fletcher and his son in Liar Liar. Instead, it seems separation might have been better for the two of them. A bit of luck and some suspicious connections bring them back together for the inevitable sappy ending. Overall, it sits in the middle of the Carrey pack and after all, he's still funny at whatever he does, even if his supporting characters are left with little else to do except encourage or criticize him for what he's doing. 2.5 stars and that's the way the cookie crumbles.