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What else? At first, Bruce experiments with his godly powers in juvenile ways. There's some gross-out humor that thankfully manages to be more verbal than visual and will probably delight the kids without offending the adults too much. Truth is, were most of us granted godly powers for even a minute, the ensuing chaos would be far from humorous. The screenwriters do an admirable job of showing a human being's ineptitude with omnipotence while keeping the tone light.

Is Bruce Almighty for everyone? Not for kids under 12. They'd get the parts you wouldn't want them to get and miss the rest. And, strictly speaking, it wasn't written for Christians, since anyone with a genuine relationship with God would already know the material. But who says that being reminded can't be fun?

Anna Waterhouse is a Malibu, California-based screenwriter of feature films and documentaries for both the large and small screens.

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Also appearing on our site today:

Film Forum: Fish Tale Fin-tastic, but How Mighty Is Bruce? | Religious film critics look at Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, The In-Laws, The Matrix Reloaded, Daddy Day Care, and The Dancer Upstairs.

A sample of mainstream critical opinions of Bruce Almighty is available at RottenTomatoes.com.

Other articles about Bruce Almighty and director Tom Shadyac include:

Bruce Almighty's Tom Shadyac is not your average Hollywood director—CCM

God is found everywhere, except on the silver screen—Los Angeles Times (May 27, 2003)

God's movie career shifts to increasingly screwy comedies—Associated Press (May 26, 2003)

What if God was one of us?— San Bernardino County Sun(May 22, 2003)

An interview with Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac—CountingDown.com

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May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47