In Bruce Almighty, and in the perfectly cast Morgan Freeman, we get a more down-to-earth God than cinema's generally been used to. Freeman's God is fundamentally benevolent, a little bit cheeky and with a voice like premium velvet - the kind of God you could imagine yourself going for a pint with. But he's also impetuous, and a bit of an I-told-you-so show-off, playing the harshest prank that anyone's ever played on Jim Carrey's Bruce Nolan, who comes in for a hell of a time of it after he complains that God should be "fired". At first, God granting Bruce his godly powers as punishment actually seems like a blessing; finally, Bruce can part the waves in his soup and increase his girlfriend's (Jennifer Aniston) breast size, in a way that isn't at all misogynistic. But God knew what he was doing - God's work (answering prayers, not letting the Earth get destroyed) eventually overwhelms Bruce, who has to go back to God with his tail tucked between his legs, asking for the man upstairs to take his powers back. He doesn't, and instead lets Bruce get hit by a truck, just so he can learn the meaning of life, or something.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
