Review rated by 25 Ciao members on average: helpful
This one wasn’t my choice, I was forced into it when I couldn’t decide what to rent out, and it was a disappointment. The concept is a good one. Billy Connelly plays a lawyer [Steve Myers], who has left the rat race, borrowed money from his ex-wife’s partner to buy a boat, and is now fishing for a living. Myers’ boat is struck by lightning and destroyed during a storm which he witnesses. This leaves Myers with a loan to repay and no way of making a living. When he tries to claim on his insurance they use the Act of God clause to get out of coughing up. Myers then embarks on a crusade, with the help of journalist Anna Redmond [played by Judy Davis], to prove how wrong this clause is. It would be useless to sue the insurance company as he would get nowhere and so he decides to sue God, well, the church as God’s representatives. The rest of the film is taken up with the court case and Myers’ inevitable reassessment of his own life and values. The only actor who does anything like a good job in this film is Billy Connelly. There are a couple of very funny moments [such as the answer phone message which he leaves for Anna] and some of the scenes with the religious leaders are fairly amusing. There are also, however, some very strange moments, like the sudden degeneration into slapstick in the restaurant scene and the appearance of the cockatiel in the courtroom [which has got to receive some sort of award for corniest moment in any film of recent years!]. The chemistry between Connelly and Davis is non-existent. The act like they can’t bear to even look at each other most of the time and nothing like a couple falling in love. One thing which I should mention is that there is some very beautiful footage of Australia in this movie. Basically this film is just a massive go at insurance companies, with smaller jibs at the media and the church (not however God or faith) so rent/buy if you’ve had trouble with any of them recently and it may cheer you up a little. It definitely deserves its 15 certificate for the language, which I thought was completely over the top in places. The DVD has no extra other than the usual chapter selection so if you must buy this [dying wish of a relative….] then I would get it on VHS.
ie all at the same time. As a theological-romantic-comedy-drama, it's in a somewhat unique category all of its own. Perhaps only Billy Connolly could carry off a central r...
ie all at the same time. As a theological-romantic-comedy-drama, it's in a somewhat unique category all of its own. Perhaps only Billy Connolly could carry off a central r...
The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
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by (4%):
18.12.2004 21:38
great op
28.11.2004 21:39
I actually quite enjoyed this film, despite the cheesy moments. Desiree x
16.07.2004 12:47
sounds rubbish, i think i will give this film a miss, cheers princess, yet again! xxx