Bruce Almighty

Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. The film stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck television reporter who complains to God (played by Morgan Freeman) that he is not doing his job correctly and is offered the chance to try being God himself for one week. It co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Philip Baker Hall, and Tony Bennett. The film is Shadyac and Carrey's third collaboration, after Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) and Liar Liar (1997). When released in American theaters on May 23, 2003, Bruce Almighty received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box-office success and grossed $86.4 million in its opening weekend, a Memorial Day record at the time. The film surprised the industry's pundits when it beat The Matrix Reloaded the following weekend. It went on to gross $484 million worldwide. Evan Almighty—a spin-off sequel focusing on Steve Carell's character, with Shadyac and Oedekerk returning to direct and write, respectively, and Freeman also reprising his role—was released on June 22, 2007. Plot Bruce Nolan is a television field reporter for Eyewitness News on WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York, who usually covers mundane news stories, but desires to be the station's anchorman. When Bruce's coveted job is taken by his rival, Evan Baxter, a vulgar on-camera outburst leads to his dismissal from the station. After a series of misfortunes, Bruce complains to God that "He's the one that should be fired". Bruce receives a message on his pager, which takes him to an empty warehouse where he meets God. God offers to give Bruce his powers (in a limited section of Buffalo) for a week, under two conditions—Bruce cannot tell others he's God, nor can he use the powers to alter free will.