I actually just rented Bruce Almighty last night and I really enjoyed
it. For those of you who have not seen the film, here is a plot summary
from The Internet Movie Database <http://www.imdb.com>.
Summary
Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a television reporter in Buffalo, N.Y.,is
discontented with almost everything in life despite his popularity and the
love of his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston) . At the end of the worst
day of his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God and God
responds. God appears in human form (Morgan Freeman) and, endowing Bruce
with divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he
can do it any better.
My Two Cents
As an actor, I find Jim Carrey's talent for over-the-top comedy to be
indicative of a willingness to be vulnerable in front of the camera. This
type of openness is the very thing that makes one a top-rate dramatic actor
(take Robin Williams for example). Not that Bruce Almighty is high
drama. It is a comedy that uses its humor to tackle a pretty weighty issue
-- theodicy. As such, I do believe that it is an appropriate film to view
in a class that is discussing this topic. The film can help raise some
very Jewish questions such as:
Why do bad things happen to good people?
If you were God...?
What does it mean for something to be good? Bad?
What is the nature of free will?
I'm not certain if I would add it to my collection, but I would certainly
understand it being in a collection of Judaica.
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