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Today, 21 November 2009

Yesterday, 20 November 2009

› Pretoria cops chase, kill

› Heat on BEE lawbreakers

› Oprah calls time on show

› Youth leader says sorry

› SACP attacks Malema

"Location, location, location" might be the identifying cry of the real estate agent, but when it comes to the Carrey/Hollywood franchise of comedy, it's "formula, formula, formula" all the way.

Jim Carrey's latest incarnation is as a selfish, disgruntled news anchorman whose life is about to change dramatically in the film 'Bruce Almighty'. Made up of equal parts humour and moralising, the film, directed by Tom Shadyac, naturally also comes with a happy ending.

But then, happy endings are all about feeling good, right? And isn't that all you would expect or want from a film starring the fantastically rubber-faced Carrey, whose previous films 'Ace Ventura', 'The Truman Show' and 'Liar Liar', to mention just a few, have guaranteed eliciting a few laughs from even the most poker-faced of audiences?

'Bruce Almighty' might err towards the overly sentimental, but it does certainly have its funny moments too, and for this Carrey, rather than the script, has to take all the credit.

The story, in a nutshell, goes thus. Carrey stars as the miserable, ever-complaining Bruce Nolan, a local Eyewitness News TV reporter in Buffalo, New York, who is after an anchor position that's about to go vacant at the station. Jennifer Aniston plays his adoring girlfriend, Grace, the antithesis of negative Bruce.

Bruce jumps at the chance to prove himself fit for the position when he's asked to break a big story. But just as he's about to go on air, he hears that his rival has been given the job. Things go from bad to worse as he gets fired, beaten up and his car vandalised. All the while bemoaning his rotten luck to the heavens, he's eventually led by some kind of divine intervention to a meet a janitor (Morgan Freeman) who turns out to be God.

God decides to give Bruce the opportunity to "play God", giving him unlimited powers to see if he can do a better job as the Almighty. Obviously, herein lie all kinds of silly-funny moments, though the inherent piety makes it all feel a bit flat.

Still, 'Bruce Almighty' is bound to be a huge hit, and if it's good, undemanding entertainment you're after on a Saturday night, you could do a whole lot worse.

For more about the film, visit the official website.

What the international critics are saying:

"A woefully underwritten motion picture that starts out as a dumb comedy before taking an ill-advised detour into mawkish sentimentality."
- James Berardinelli, JAMES BERARDINELLI'S REELVIEWS

"It's stunning how a movie about someone who gets to be the ultimate high-and-mighty could set its sights so low."
- Mark Caro, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"A perfectly respectable Jim Carrey comedy that makes you feel as if you're right back in 1997, watching Liar Liar."
- Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

"Rambunctiously funny."
- Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES

"Even with all its predictability, Bruce Almighty and its star Jim Carrey still leaves you crying from laughter."
- Kit Bowen, HOLLYWOOD.COM