Coverage:

After several box-office flops ("The Majestic" and "Man on the Moon"), rubber-faced Jim Carrey returns to the over-the-top comedy shtick that made him famous in the theological satire "Bruce Almighty." Carrey stars as Bruce Nolan, a Buffalo, New York television reporter who is discontented with everything his in life, even though he's popular with his viewers and his girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston) loves him. After the worst day of his life, Bruce is angry with God and asks, "Why do you hate me?" Tired of hearing Bruce complain, God (Morgan Freeman) summons Bruce and challenges him to do a better job. Of course, Bruce thinks he can and takes on the challenge - and the powers. If you’ve seen the trailers, then you already know how Bruce abuses his newly acquired powers – teaching his dog to use the toilet, blowing the lid off of fire hydrants and uplifting dresses. He even zaps a rival anchorman while the poor guy is on the air, making his news delivery unintelligible. You would think with divine powers, Bruce wouldn’t set his sights so low. But then again, this is a Jim Carrey movie. By the time Bruce finally does get around to thinking about world peace and solving the problems of feeding the hungry, God just can’t take him seriously. Nor can we, the audience, because the entire film is just an excuse for Carrey to run through his repertoire of hyperactive facial spasms. But despite its shortfalls, the film does have a great universal premise. After all, we’ve all wondered: "What if?"