Bruce Almighty

Bruce Almighty (2003) is a comedy movie directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston.

Steve Carell, Catherine Bell, and Philip Baker Hall co-star. Tony Bennett and "Juan Valdez" make cameo appearances.

Controversy and reaction

• The film carefully avoids religious controversy as God seems to be of no particular denomination and few theological questions are discussed, with exception of Jesus (walking on water), Moses (Bruce parting his tomato soup), one quote from the Bible ("thou shalt not tempt the Lord."), and a gag about the Tetragrammaton (Bruce's e-mail service is "Yaweh!"). Issues such as omnipotence and omniscience are not explored in any detail as most of the film is set in the area of Buffalo, New York, as God only gives him management of part of Buffalo. The only hint at this is that the building Bruce meets God in is called "Omnipresence". The film does, however, take a clear stance on the issue of predestination, as the only restriction for Bruce, and presumably God, is that he cannot affect peoples' free will.
  
  
• The movie was banned in Egypt due to pressure from Islamic religious circuits who objected to the portrayal of God in the form of a human being.
  
  
• There were also rigorous protests from a small, but vocal, faction of the otherwise liberal Muslim population in Malaysia. The government did not outlaw its screening, and Bruce Almighty still appears occasionally, albeit heavily edited, on Malaysian satellite television.
  
  
• Some contend that Robert Bausch, author of the book Almighty Me, is the original creator of the Bruce Almighty storyline, citing similarities between the book and movie. Bausch had no credit toward officially creating the story.
  
  
• The movie received relatively positive reviews, and took in nearly $243 million, making it Jim Carrey's most successful film since 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
  
  
• The film caused controversy because God contacts Bruce using an actual phone number rather than a number in the standard fictional 555 telephone exchange. Several people and groups sharing this number have received hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to talk to God. The producers note that the number chosen was not in use in the area the film is set in, but did not check anywhere else. The original telephone number was 776-2323, no area code was included. The home video and television versions changed the display of the pager to 555-0123, and the voice that says "Why, hello, 555-0123" is not that of Jim Carrey.

Trivia

• A crane was blown over by strong winds during shooting. It was reported at the time that Jennifer Aniston, who was standing with her back to the crane, didn't see it toppling towards her but Jim Carrey pushed her out of the way in time to avert a serious accident. Carrey subsequently played down the extent of the peril, and said that the stories were exaggerated. Aniston has since denied that she was even there.
  
  
• This film contains many references to previous Jim Carrey films such as: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) (the monkey, the lines "Alrighty then", "Sissy girl" and saying "Hi-ho silver, away!" as he takes off in a car), The Mask (1994) (the phone number, an important object being thrown out the window but magically reappearing, "Dirty Harry" impersonation, and talking to himself in the mirror)
  

• Jim Carrey often insisted on doing upwards of 30 takes of some scenes.
  
  
• The town square is the same location that was in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989).
  
  
• Eva Mendes was originally cast as Susan Ortega but had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts
  
  
• The picture on the "Mr Exclusive" poster is taken from a promo shot from Liar Liar (1997).
  
  
• The supercar driven by Bruce Nolan later in the film is a Saleen S7, this car is often confused with the Mclaren F1.
  
  
• The school scenes were filmed at the same school used in Liar Liar (1997)
  
  
• At one point, Jennifer Aniston was shooting this movie, "Friends" (1994), and Along Came Polly (2004) at the same time.
  
  
• When Bruce looks at Grace's prayers some of them can be seen on screen in two shots - all of her prayers and filtered to include only Bruce's. In the first shot, only one of the 21 visible prayers are close to being for Grace's own benefit: "Please Help The Day Care Kids Listen Better". The visible prayers in the first shot are:
  • Please Watch Over My Sister
  • Please Help Day Care Center
  • Please Keep Debbie's Kids Safe
  • Please Give My Day Care Parents Wisdom
  • Please Be With Mom During This Time
  • Please Keep Our Country Safe
  • Please Help Bruce To Be Happy
  • Please Watch Over My Day Care Kids
  • Please Guide Our President's Decisions
  • Please Give Debbie The Energy She Needs
  • Please Help Mom Stay Healthy
  • Please Help Blood Drive Reach Their Goal
  • Please Help Bruce Make Good Decisions
  • Please Help The Day Care Kids Listen Better
  • Please Help Debbie Be Happy
  • Please Help My Relationship With Bruce
  • Please Watch Over Mom
  • Please Help Debbie And Bruce Get Along
  • Please Watch Over Martin From Day Care
  • Please Help Mom Be Happy
  • Please Help Bruce To Have Confidence
    
    
• Among the many religious and Biblical allusions in the film are the following:
  • When exiting God's "office", Bruce walks right over the puddle that drenched his leg on the way in.
  • At the diner, while parting his tomato soup a la the Red Sea, the background music is the theme from The Ten Commandments (1956).
  • His prayer e-mail service is called "Yahweh.com", a reference to God's Biblical name.
  • At the party celebrating the anchor position, Bruce turns water into wine and poses next to a statue of a golden calf.
    
    
• One of the many deleted scenes on the DVD (there are ca. 30 minutes on it) has Grace with her sister in a grocery store. Grace picks up a tabloid and remarks about the fictitious actress on the cover, "She's so talented but all they want to talk about is her hair," an obvious reference to herself in real life.
  
  
• The name of the weather man (Dallas Coleman) and the name of the sportscaster (Fred Donohue) are both combinations of famous Los Angeles area newscasters. Famous LA weather men Dallas Raines and Fritz Coleman make up the weather man's name, and LA sportscasters Fred Roggin and Todd Donoho make up the sportscaster.
  
  
• After he is bestowed with God's powers, the license plate of Bruce's car reads "ALMITY-1".
  
  
• The movie is set in Buffalo, New York because Jim Carrey grew up in Toronto just north of Buffalo and watched WKBW-TV Channel 7 Eyewitness News as a kid. In those days, Eyewitness News was anchored by Irv Weinstein who was famous for his staccato delivery and use of alliterative phrases like "Pistol Packing Punks" and "Buffalo Blaze Busters". Irv was the first news anchor to use the Phrase "It's 11 o'clock, do you know where your children are?"
  
  
• When Jim Carrey turns on the TV in the beginning of "Bruce Almighty", the man who appears on the screen is John Murphy, the real-life sports director for WKBW-TV in Buffalo.
  
  
• When Bruce and God first meet, God wants him to help clean the floor. Bruce makes an excuse as to why he can't right now, but says (ironically, since he's going to the seventh floor) "I'm free on the seventh, at seven", which is just like in the Bible, where it is said that God created earth in six days and was "free" on the seventh.