Bruce Almighty

As entertainment, it gives good value: it's light, quick and diverting. Morgan Freeman, predictably, gives it heart, gravitas and the appearance of wisdom; but it's Carrey who keeps all the balls in the air with refined mania.

There are enough goofball touches in Bruce Almighty to carry the movie to a certain extent... However, when the time comes for Bruce to "share and learn", the effect is trite and embarrassing.

Happily deranged comedy has typical Carrey humor.

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.

Director Shadyac and his three scriptwriters prove much more fallibly flawed than their omnipotent hero.

But the big surprise is Carell. Known mainly for playing one of Julia-Louis Dreyfus' friends on the anemic sitcom Watching Ellie, the young funnyman is a revelation here.

It's a nice return to comedy for Carrey.

While Carrey's antics are good for some laughs, the film ultimately falls apart, thanks to a heavy-handed screenplay with enough sugar and sweetness to induce a diabetic coma.

Although Carrey's built-in audience base will undoubtedly be thanking The Almighty this weekend for Bruce Almighty, with so many other films out there right now, this one can be put on the back burner.

Spiritual enlightenment is served as a side dish to the main course of orgasm and orifice jokes. Steve Carell gets the film's only good scene, easily You-Tubed, with an on-air gibberish seizure.