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"BRUCE ALMIGHTY"
(2003) (Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild Mild Heavy Minor Minor
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate None Minor Mild Heavy
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate None None Moderate Moderate


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: A disillusioned TV reporter finds that God's job is harder than he imagined when the Almighty anoints him with His powers.
PLOT:
Bruce Nolan (JIM CARREY) is a Buffalo TV reporter who's hoping that his boss, Jack (PHILIP BAKER HALL), will promote him into the now vacant anchor spot alongside co-anchor Susan Ortega (CATHERINE BELL). Yet, and despite having a loving, long-term girlfriend in the form of Grace Connelly (JENNIFER ANISTON), Bruce isn't happy since things just aren't going his way.

When rival reporter Evan Baxter (STEVEN CARELL) gets the anchor position instead of him, Bruce goes off the deep end. He then blames his misfortune on God and His failure to fulfill Bruce's dreams and aspirations. As a result, and tired of the blame, God (MORGAN FREEMAN) calls upon Bruce and bestows him with all of His powers, stating that it's now Bruce's chance to play God.

With the only rules being that he can't tell anyone or mess with free will, Bruce immediately sets out to better his own life. Yet, when that ruins his relationship with Grace, and after he's inundated with millions of prayers, Bruce must decide what's best for him and everyone else.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of comedies, Carrey or Aniston, or anyone else in the cast, they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For language, sexual content and some crude humor.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • JIM CARREY plays a disillusioned TV reporter who blames God for his failures and disappointments in life. Once given the power of God, he sets out to better his life, but eventually figures out he should help others. He briefly uses strong profanity and has sex with his long-term girlfriend.
  • JENNIFER ANISTON plays his long-term girlfriend who's disappointed in his self-centered ways. She also has sex with him.
  • MORGAN FREEMAN plays God who's so tired of Bruce blaming him for his problems that He gives him His powers to see if he can do a better job (and thus makes him learn a lesson about himself).
  • PHILIP BAKER HALL plays Bruce's boss.
  • CATHERINE BELL plays the station's co-anchor who briefly comes on to Bruce.
  • STEVEN CARELL plays Bruce's rival who gets the coveted anchor spot over him.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are present. A Barry White song has brief sexually related lyrics that then lead to a comical pre-sexual encounter between a couple (including her looking and sounding aroused).

    Other non-explicit, sexually related comments are made, a woman is briefly seen in her panties, another comments on her bust suddenly being bigger (with cleavage), and a third comes onto a man and passionately kisses him.

    Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes and some viewers might not like the portrayal of God in a non-standard way. Various instances of imitative behavior and crude humor are present (the latter including dog urination, farting sounds and a visual joke about a monkey coming out of a man's butt).

    Violence includes some thugs beating up a man, a car accident, a man briefly being dead after a truck hits him (he's later okay) and some rioting and related activities. Meanwhile, a few characters drink and one scene has a TV crew being caught with bags of pot and cannabis plants in their van (played for comedy).

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Seeing that God is playing many roles (janitor, executive, etc.) Bruce sarcastically tells Him not to get drunk since "one of you" might need a ride home.
  • Bruce causes a TV crew to be arrested for possession of 220 pounds of pot (and we then see bags of it as well as cannabis plants in their van).
  • Bruce takes a swig from a bottle of wine while tasting it (and holding a glass with some in it) at a restaurant where others also have drinks.
  • People have drinks at a party.
  • Bruce is asked if he's drunk (due to the way he's acting) and he says he is, but adds that it's with power (and not alcohol).
  • Bruce causes a champagne cork to hit a person in the face.
  • God says that a miracle is a teenager saying no to drugs.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • There's brief talk of a "rat pellet" being found in a cookie.
  • On several occasions, we see a dog's urine stream as it relieves itself inside a house. We also see Bruce racing the dog outside while it's urinating (carrying it) and we see its urine stream spraying everywhere. At one point, Bruce sarcastically says that they should go back in where the dog can "have a sh*t" (we never see that happens). Later, we see the dog standing while urinating at the toilet (we hear the sound of urination) and later it's seen sitting on the toilet, reading a newspaper (but nothing explicit).
  • A bully says that he'll apologize to Bruce the day a monkey comes out of his butt. Bruce then causes this to happen and we hear gastrointestinal sounds and then see a large bulge in the seat of the man's pants. A small monkey then tears through the pants and gets out, but later chases after the man and apparently dives back in (we only see the man's pained reaction - all played for laughs).
  • Bruce causes farting sounds to be heard around Evan.
  • We see a young kid eating paste in daycare and later some glitter. Grace then sarcastically says that the kid is going to "poop an ornament."
  • Bruce has a few red scrapes on his face.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Some viewers might not like the concept of the film (God giving a frustrated man His powers) or Bruce being sarcastic and pointing out God as the source of his problems or ignoring him. He also says that God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass and picking on humans (like ants). He also says that God should be fired.
  • Bruce is self-centered and only looking out for himself (and feels sorry for himself).
  • Evan makes fun of Bruce.
  • Some thugs pick on a homeless man and then beat up Bruce.
  • Bruce misuses his Godly powers for his own gain, and to ruin others' careers.
  • A person equates something to being "like a sissy girl."
  • Susan comes on to Bruce and then passionately kisses him despite knowing he has a girlfriend.
  • We see people rioting on the streets with burning cars. Some overturn a car, others loot, one throws something through a storefront window that breaks and several men overturn a billboard that crashes from the rooftop down onto the street and cars below it.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Some thugs pick on a homeless man and then chase after, tackle and beat up Bruce (kicking him on the ground and somewhat played for comedy).
  • Bruce is hit by a truck (we don't see the impact) and is killed (he goes to Heaven and chats with God who sends him back (where he's alive).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handgun: Held by Bruce while undergoing a brief Dirty Harry transformation. We also hear a shot that blasts through his back car window (but don't see the gun that fired it).
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Back to you f*cker," "Have a sh*t," "Royal pr*ck," "Nuts" (crazy), "That sucks," "Get your goofy butt over here," "Freaking," "Holy hell," "Bastard," "Big fat ass," "You suck," "Freaked me out," "Holy cow," "Can of whoop ass," "Cut the crap," "Like a sissy girl," "Jeez," "Screwed up," "Bloody hell," "Megabyte me" and "Idiot."
  • Some kids might be enticed to imitate Jim Carrey's exaggerated facial expressions, sounds or actions.
  • We see an adult man picking his nose (twice).
  • Bruce fakes likes he's playing a trumpet and then gives Evan "the finger" while doing so.
  • We see a young kid eating paste in daycare and later some glitter.
  • A miscellaneous thug has tattoos.
  • Bruce loudly belches.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A tiny bit of comedy-based, suspenseful music plays in one scene.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Some viewers might not like Bruce singing a song that has the lyrics, "What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us."
  • A Barry White song has the lyrics "make love to you right now" and that's all he wants to do (and has some pleasured-sounding sighs).
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 1 "f" words, 5 "s" words (with another incomplete one and several heard in the outtakes during the end credits), 1 slang term using male genitals ("pr*ck"), 1 for breasts ("boobs"), 7 asses (2 used with "hole"), 3 hells, 2 craps, 2 damns, 5 uses of "Oh my God," 4 each of "Jesus" and "Oh God," and 1 use each of "God," "Oh Jesus" and "For the love of God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Bruce looks at an old photo of Grace and comments that she's perky and that it must have been cold (we don't see any details).
  • We see Bruce and Grace in bed in the morning (he's in some small shorts), but nothing sexual happens.
  • There's a brief mention of a sex scandal in the mayor's office.
  • Bruce uses his new powers to blow air up a woman's dress, briefly showing her in her small panties (we see part of her bare butt cheeks).
  • As a Barry White song plays with lyrics about "make love to you right now," Bruce caresses Grace's hair and the two then passionately kiss while standing and clothed. He then asks, "Bedroom?" and she replies, "Five minutes." He then uses his powers to strip off all of his clothes down to his black underwear and then uses more powers to get Grace aroused in the bathroom (as he comments about anticipation heightening pleasure). We see and hear her pleasured reactions and she then comes out, looks quite aroused, and races toward him. He catches and flips her over and they fall toward the bed (and sex is implied).
  • The next morning, she starts to comment about the night before and he finishes her thought about it being heavenly. Grace then wonders if her "boobs" are bigger (they are and she jiggles them while wearing a tank-top that shows cleavage). We also see her clothed chest prominently displayed in the foreground of a shot.
  • Grace shows some cleavage, as does Susan (a lot) and a miscellaneous woman in another scene.
  • Susan comes on to Bruce and then passionately kisses him (he struggles to have her stop).
  • During a montage of Bruce trying to win back Grace, we see and hear the title of a song on the TV that reads/says, "Bruce So Horny, He Love You Long Time."
  • Bruce comments on training his dog to urinate outside as "doing it doggie style."
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • People who are unhappy with their lives and blame that on God or others rather than themselves.
  • The comment that no matter how filthy something is, it can always be cleaned up.
  • The notion of miracles vs. magic.
  • Being your own miracle.
  • Donating blood.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Grace playfully tackles Bruce.
  • To prove that he can be a jerk like others, Bruce knocks his boss' plate from his hand (played for laughs).
  • We see the end of Bruce being pushed from a building and onto the street (after being fired).
  • Some thugs pick on a homeless man and then chase after, tackle and beat up Bruce (kicking him on the ground and somewhat played for comedy). We then see that those men broke his car window and etched the word "hero" into the door.
  • While frustrated, Bruce knocks something aside that we hear break off camera.
  • Bruce accidentally crashes his car into a lamp post (damaging the car, but he's unhurt).
  • Bruce heaves his pager out the window where it lands on the street and breaks.
  • Bruce is blasted backwards by an extremely long file cabinet drawer that extends outward. It then retracts and pulls him back toward the cabinet and he slams into it.
  • We hear a gunshot that blasts through Bruce's back car window (in a comedy bit about him suddenly being Dirty Harry).
  • Bruce uses his powers to cause a huge meteorite to crash into the ground (we only see the resultant debris cloud from a distance).
  • Bruce causes a champagne cork to hit a person in the face.
  • We see people rioting on the streets with burning cars. Some overturn a car, others loots, one throws something through a storefront window that breaks and several men overturn a billboard that crashes from the rooftop down onto the street and cars below it.
  • Bruce is hit by a truck (we don't see the impact) and is killed (he goes to Heaven and chats with God who sends him back (where he's alive).



  • Reviewed May 20, 2003 / Posted May 23, 2003

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