Bruce Almighty
Universal Pictures | Release Date: May 23, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
18
Negative:
7
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Carrey is so gifted a physical comedian that even mediocre material shines in his talented hands, not to mention his talented feet, face, elbows, ears, hair and, ahem, derriere. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Bruce Nolan is one deeply disgruntled barrel of laughs--the emotional kin of Bill Murray's cynical weatherman in "Groundhog Day." Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Aniston, as a sweet kindergarten teacher and fiancee, shows again (after "The Good Girl") that she really will have a movie career. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A diverting comedy that in its last act becomes unusually sober. While the film both explicitly and implicitly pays tribute to Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," the upshift from irreverent slapstick to reverent sermonette is extremely abrupt. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Everyone is well cast and no one more perfectly than Freeman, who is far more God-like than George Burns ever was. Freeman's God is wise, humble, wry, patient and funny but never mean-spirited. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
When Carrey is doing his thing as the Almighty, histrionically whipping up one miracle after another and relishing the power, "Bruce" has you spring-cleaning your lungs with laughter. But you are made to pay for it with a third-act sap-rising that's as thick as the final reels of "Patch Adams." Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Although the film's jabs at TV journalism are nothing new, Carrey brings to the material the sense of someone who's too smart for his work yet loves it -- the essence, perhaps, of being a ham. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Carrey isn't afraid to go happily psycho, like Peter Sellers or Eminem on his funniest tracks, and that's his edge. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
It would be nice to say that Bruce is hilarious, rather than merely (and fitfully) funny; certainly, the premise suggests laughs more consistent and outlandish than are present here. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Bruce Almighty would rather go runny and bland, mostly where Aniston's Grace is concerned. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Even more than Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams or Pee-wee Herman, Mr. Carrey, now 41 (pretty old for an overgrown kid), sustains a maniacal energy that explodes off the screen in blinding electrical zaps. Those jolts don't always feel pleasant. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
Carrey's schizophrenic new effort gives you both at once -- it drowns his hilarious physicality in an ocean of sap. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie is mainly an excuse to display special-effects gags in the form of the various miracles manifested -- some of which are highly imaginative, some of which aren't. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The screenplay doesn't ultimately make much sense. Carrey is a unique comic talent, though, and Freeman and Aniston back him up with such sensitive supporting performances that the film almost works if you can suspend enough disbelief to swallow its fantastic premise. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
The actors don't seem to have been directed at all, and the movie is very sluggishly paced. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
From the script to the title character to the direction, the watchwords here are three: Play it safe. The whole thing reeks of the formulaic. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Any story from the "Patch Adams" team of director Tom Shadyac and writer Steve Oedekerk is bound to end up floating in a soup of moral homilies, and "Bruce" does. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
As long as this deity remains childish, materialistic and narcissistic, Jim's in his heaven and all's right with the world. It's when the story reaches for maturity, spirituality and altruism that the divine spark of comedy sputters and nearly goes out.
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Even apart from the fact that it's not nearly funny enough, Bruce Almighty is a peculiar film. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
There's remarkably little done with a premise snatched from high-concept heaven, adding yet another file to the growing cabinet of under-realized comedies. Read full review
50
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Long before you buy your ticket to the new Jim Carrey film, you've already been doomed to disappointment. Several parties play a role in this. Interestingly, Jim Carrey isn't one of them. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
A looking-glass cover version of "The Truman Show," the maudlin Jim Carrey vehicle Bruce Almighty lets the comedian ply his rubber-limbed shtick as well as indulge his pursuit of sappiness. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
While Bruce Almighty does end on a modest "Candide"-like note, the getting there is too strained to be much of a pleasure. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Just a vehicle for Carrey to do his hyperactive shtick. He has some entertaining bits, such as his rain-drenched meltdown in which he victimizes some stunned innocents, but he’s working so strenuously that at times he’s hard to watch. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
I like my God, though, like I like my comedies: ruder, cruder, and able to show me things I haven't seen before. Bruce Almighty is sadly miracle-free. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Bruce Almighty attempts to blend both sides of the actor – comedic and dramatic – and while Carrey achieved that balance quite wonderfully in "The Truman Show," Bruce Almighty doesn't so much straddle the fence as impale itself on it. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderStaff (Not credited)
Without a decent script, Carrey can't create much of a character, and the farce loses its edge the moment it starts trying to tell a coherent story. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Unless you like boob jokes and preachy sentimentalism, this comedy isn't funny at all. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A woefully underwritten motion picture that starts out as a dumb comedy before taking an ill-advised detour into mawkish sentimentality. The last 30 minutes of Bruce Almighty is so godawful that it almost sent me screaming from the theater. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Like his (Carrey) early work, it's not a particularly good film -- insipidly staged, inanely plotted, too weak to withstand the weight of any inquiries into logic or continuity -- but Carrey's energetic mugging, particularly early on, makes it relatively painless. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
It's a classic fantasy scenario, overflowing with creative possibilities, but Carrey's Nolan isn't charmingly misguided or comically loathsome enough to deserve the lesson; he's just a big, inconsequential crybaby. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's all rote, sleep-inducing formula, but it might have still worked if the movie weren't so timid and unimaginative. Read full review
25
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The potential for real offense is palpable, but Bruce Almighty never gets there; the script is too lazy and incoherent--truly effective blasphemy takes brains and rigor. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Something between an indiscretion and an atrocity. Read full review
0
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Even the most narcissistic jerk, like the one played by Jim Carrey in the loathsome comedy Bruce Almighty, would be expected to dream up untold pleasures for himself, acting as a self-serving genie with infinite wishes. Read full review
More From This Movie

46 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 86 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2 84 Are You There God? It's Me,...
3 78 John Wick: Chapter 4
4 75 Polite Society
5 73 Air
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL