If one day you gained the immense power of God to fulfill your small but endless desires, what would you do?
Bruce Nolan gets that chance. From the film’s start, you’ll see his only real problem is how he views what’s around him. With an engaging job, a cozy apartment, a beautiful and gentle girlfriend, a dog (not the best-behaved, given its indoor accidents), and a car, Bruce feels… stuck. Instead of cherishing what he has, he’s perpetually grumpy about what he lacks, convinced he deserves more.
In his self-made misery, he calls out to God—only to complain about His unfairness. The God in this movie is pretty likable, showing up kindly to grant Bruce the power he craves. What follows is a string of hilarious moments that had me laughing until I teared up. I wasn’t just laughing at Bruce, but at myself too—because as a human, I’m not sure I’d handle such power any better.
In our dreams, we often picture ourselves as grander if given something great—champions of justice or heroes waving a righteous flag. But humans are a forgetful bunch, and reality tends to stray far from our plans.
Bruce uses his powers for self-indulgence. I’d say this “God-in-training” ticks off all Seven Deadly Sins (pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, sloth). He becomes the very thing he criticized, and the absurdity is he doesn’t see how unfair he’s being. At this point, God must be pleased. I really like how God is portrayed as a patient teacher here, taking time for one tiny person amid a sea of tiny thoughts.
After wreaking havoc like a kid with a magic wand, Bruce panics when he realizes that getting everything his way turns life into chaos. The easy path ends up being the quickest route to suffering. He didn’t understand life, blaming its unfairness on his own lack of self-awareness, quick to point fingers. He’d been running a machine without reading the manual, breaking it as he used it, resenting it until it truly fell apart.
The laughter in this film isn’t shallow. “Laughing at others is laughing at ourselves”—the bad news is that in Bruce’s pettiness, selfishness, and woes, I see traces of us. The good news? In God, I see traces of us too. Humanity isn’t perfect, but with timely awareness, I believe we can reach toward perfection.
After a dark night of the soul, Bruce grasps life’s meaning and gets another shot at living. Or rather, only by understanding life’s essence do we truly begin to live.
This rings true in reality. Chasing desires doesn’t make us wiser—it often makes us craftier. Only when hardship strikes are we forced to sift through our lives for missed lessons. If there’s a God, He’s a stern yet merciful teacher with this method.
Bruce Almighty is a film worth experiencing.
In Place of a Conclusion
Seeking God outside might make you overlook the God within. I think staring at a painting, bowing to a statue, or praying to something external is like a short-lived sedative.
Try shedding some desire, selfishness, and pride, then stand before a mirror. You might spot your own God—or not, and that’s fine. The grandest things are often so simple they don’t need fancy titles to shine.
