Universal
Pictures’ Bruce Almighty is a wild new comedy about a man
who goes looking for God…and finds himself. The film reunites
two-time Golden Globe Award winner Jim Carrey with director/producer
TOM SHADYAC, the actor’s collaborator on the megahits Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective and Liar Liar. Starring with Carrey are two-time
2002 Golden Globe Award winner and Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston
and Golden Globe Award winner and three-time Academy Award nominee
Morgan Freeman. The supporting cast includes such fine talents as
LISA ANN WALTER (TV’s Breaking News and Life’s Work,
as well as Disney’s The Parent Trap) as Grace’s salty
sister Debbie; PHILIP BAKER HALL (The Sum of All Fears, Rules of
Engagement, Magnolia, The Insider) as Jack Keller, the crusty station
manager; CATHERINE BELL (Major Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie
on TV’s JAG) as sexy, seductive news anchor Susan Ortega;
STEVE CARELL (television’s The Daily Show and Watching Ellie)
as Bruce’s network arch-rival Evan Baxter; NORA DUNN (Saturday
Night Live, Sisters) as Bruce’s long-suffering segment producer,
Ally Loman; and Golden Globe Award-winner SALLY KIRKLAND (Anna,
Ed TV, JFK) as a lovelorn waitress at a local Buffalo diner.
Nearly the entire production team of Bruce Almighty have previously
worked with Shadyac. The film is produced by Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey,
JAMES D. BRUBAKER and MICHAEL BOSTICK. The executive producers are
ROGER BIRNBAUM and GARY BARBER. LINDA FIELDS-HILL and JANET WATTLES
serve as associate producers. The writers are STEVE KOREN (Saturday
Night Live, Seinfeld), MARK O’KEEFE (NewsRadio) and longtime
Carrey/Shadyac collaborator STEVE OEDEKERK, a staff writer on In
Living Color who later wrote Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (which
he also directed) as well as Shadyac’s hits The Nutty Professor
and Patch Adams.
Jim Carrey is one of the world’s most popular and versatile
stars. Following early appearances as a stand-up comedian and roles
in features and TV, Carrey broke out in the 1990 comedy series In
Living Color--in which he performed a vast array of characters--and
then in the title role of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Since then,
Carrey has starred in an unprecedented series of comedies and dramas,
among them The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Batman Forever, The Cable
Guy, Liar Liar, The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, Me, Myself and
Irene, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Majestic.
Carrey won the Best Actor Golden Globe Award both for his performance
as a man whose entire life has been broadcast live on television
in Peter Weir’s The Truman Show, and his stunning portrayal
of Andy Kaufman in Milos Forman’s Man on the Moon. Carrey
also received Golden Globe Best Actor nominations for The Mask,
Liar Liar and The Grinch.
Jennifer Aniston was catapulted to international stardom as Rachel
Green in the television ensemble comedy Friends, which will soon
be reaching the end of a hugely popular nine season run. She has
also starred in such feature films as She’s the One, Picture
Perfect, ‘Til There Was You, The Object of My Affection, Office
Space and Rock Star. Recently, she received rave reviews for her
starring role in Miguel Arteta’s independent film The Good
Girl.
Morgan Freeman, one of America’s most distinguished actors,
has received Academy Award nominations for Street Smart, Driving
Miss Daisy (which brought him a Golden Globe Award) and The Shawshank
Redemption. His numerous motion picture credits have also included
Glory, Amistad, Deep Impact, the hit thrillers Kiss the Girls and
its followup Along Came A Spider, Nurse Betty, High Crimes and The
Sum of All Fears. He was recently seen in Lawrence Kasdan’s
Dreamcatcher, based on a work by Stephen King, and in the independent
drama Levity, also starring Billy Bob Thornton, Kirstin Dunst and
Holly Hunter
In addition to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Liar Liar, Tom Shadyac
has also directed the smash hit The Nutty Professor, starring Eddie
Murphy, the Golden Globe-nominated hit Patch Adams, starring Robin
Williams and the supernatural drama Dragonfly. He also executive-produced
Murphy’s return in the popular Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.
Bruce Almighty not only reunites Shadyac with all the film’s
producers, but also with the director’s gifted team of behind-the-scenes
artists, including Academy Award-winning director of photography
DEAN SEMLER (Dances With Wolves, The Road Warrior, Nutty Professor
II: The Klumps, Dragonfly, XXX); production designer LINDA DeSCENNA
(Patch Adams, Liar Liar, Dragonfly, Galaxy Quest); costume designer
JUDY RUSKIN HOWELL (Patch Adams, Liar Liar, Born on the Fourth of
July, Sleepless in Seattle); film editor SCOTT HILL (assistant editor
of Liar Liar, Patch Adams and Dragonfly); composer JOHN DEBNEY (Liar
Liar, Dragonfly, The Scorpion King); and 2nd unit director/stunt
coordinator MICKEY GILBERT (The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Dragonfly).
About
the Production
There
are some marriages that are made in heaven—creative ones,
that is—and no star and director are more suited for each
other than Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac. Their first collaboration,
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, firmly established Carrey as a star
of the first magnitude, and Shadyac as a freshman director with
a promising career. The second time Carrey and Shadyac pooled their
talents, the result was Universal’s Liar Liar, one of the
biggest hits of 1997.
Thus, when Shadyac was first presented with the high and mighty
concept for Bruce Almighty, it went the top of his development heap
at Shady Acres Entertainment, his extremely busy production company.
And Shadyac knew from the first who he wanted to make it with. Only
one actor could play a man suddenly endowed with the powers of God,
with all of the comedic mayhem and heartful drama that ensues…Jim
Carrey. The fundamental themes of Bruce Almighty were familiar territory
to the two friends, who had spent many hours debating the Big Questions.
“Jim is kind of a brother to me,” notes Shadyac. “A
little brother in some ways, and a big brother in other ways.
“We have a great friendship, and Bruce Almighty speaks to
our concerns. What is this force called God? What is this force
doing in our lives? How do we relate to it? Thematically, the film
is ultimately a story about where true power comes from.”
Shadyac and Carrey were joined on their quest by Shady Acres partners
and fellow producers Michael Bostick and James D. Brubaker, who
had collaborated with both on Liar Liar, and were equally enthusiastic
about the notion of bringing the story to cinematic life. “Tom
so personally responded to its themes,” says Bostick, “and
based on his track record, it represented a project that’s
so far in the Tom Shadyac wheelhouse. It’s a star-driven,
high-concept comedy that ultimately has a message about the human
condition, which I think is a strand which runs through all his
work.”
Adds Jim Brubaker, “Tom’s movies, whether comedies or
dramas, are a little bit personal, a little bit spiritual and always
about opening the heart.”
Bostick also notes that “both Tom and Jim were coming off
dramas and keenly interested in getting back into the comedy genre.
Jim not only signed on as the star of Bruce Almighty, but also as
a producer, and he became intimately involved in the development
of the script and then, creatively, every day on set.”
Assembling “The Family”
As they kicked off pre-production, Shadyac, Bostick and Brubaker
began collecting a top-tier team of behind-the-scenes artists, most
of them returning to the fold after having worked with the director
and/or the producers on previous projects; this stalwart group included
Oscar-winning director of photography Dean Semler, production designer
Linda DeScenna, costume designer Judy Ruskin Howell, film editor
Scott Hill, propmaster Brad Einhorn and many more to follow.
“Basically, our team are those who can adjust as fast as Tom
can,” states Brubaker. “You need that team together,
because what you’re looking for are people who can reinforce,
be positive and take on any challenge.”
Enthuses Shadyac about his team: “Dean Semler is a cinematographer
who takes comedy seriously, but also has an incredible sense of
humor. He’s a great painter with light. Linda DeScenna brings
a warmth, richness and reality to her sets that allow your actors
to live in a space. Judy Ruskin Howell thinks about character and
symbolism while she designs the costumes, little things that you
normally wouldn’t notice. On a Jim Carrey movie, the propmaster
is at times just as important as the director, because Jim loves
working with ‘toys,’ which give him ideas. I would delay
a major decision in my life for Brad Einhorn, our propmaster. He’s
that good. It became a game on the set to try and trip up Brad.
Jim and I would ask him for all kinds of outrageous things, and
he would just say ‘Okay, give me a couple of hours,’
and come up with it. Everything of mass and substance that exists
in the world is in Brad Einhorn’s prop truck!”
And then there was the matter of who would join Jim Carrey in front
of the camera, particularly for the crucial roles of Grace, Bruce’s
devoted but strong-minded girlfriend, and the one who’s singlehandedly
responsible for Bruce’s powers…the Big Man himself…God.
“I hate to use the cliché,” says Shadyac, “but
Jennifer Aniston is one of the hottest people in show business.
You can count on one hand the number of people, male or female,
who can give you beauty, strength, intelligence, vulnerability and
a sense of humor in one package. Jen’s character, Grace, is
not passive. She’s strong, and that’s why we wanted
Jennifer.”
Adds producer Michael Bostick, “Jennifer has been in America’s
living rooms for nine years as Rachel on Friends, and I think that
people will be thrilled to see her on the big screen with Jim. Jennifer’s
comic timing is impeccable, and she also brings an emotional weight
to her characters.”
Aniston herself had no doubts about wanting to play Grace when Tom
Shadyac first approached her with the idea. “Tom pitched a
fantastic story which I found very moving. I just thought it was
great. It’s hard to infuse spirituality into a bold commercial
movie, and that’s what Tom and the writers have done without
hitting you over the head with it.”
Shadyac and Carrey were also challenged with another Big Question.
Who should…who could…play God? “When this script
came to me,” recalls the director, “only one guy popped
into my head. It was always Morgan Freeman.
“There are a million ways to play God,” Shadyac continues.
“You can talk from a burning bush, or a mountain, or a sunset.
Our way was to find a consummate human who is full of dignity, power,
a sense of humor and an edge. Morgan embodied humanity and divinity
in a way that we felt was perfect for the movie, so we didn’t
have a second choice.”
Thankfully, Morgan Freeman felt the same way, and the Bruce Almighty
company found God.
To circle around this talented triumverate of Carrey, Aniston and
Freeman, Shadyac then cast a number of highly talented performers
from every strata of film, television and theatre, including Lisa
Ann Walter from The Parent Trap, JAG’s beauteous Catherine
Bell, the distinguished character actor Philip Baker Hall, the deft
comedian Steve Carell from The Daily Show, Nora Dunn of Saturday
Night Live fame and Golden Globe Award winner Sally Kirkland, an
all-media fixture. Ironically, for the role of the lonely diner
waitress, the Bruce Almighty screenplay called for “a Sally
Kirkland type,” a casting problem solved by Shadyac simply
summoning forth the real article, with Kirkland only too happy to
comply.
“Jim and I have always felt that it’s really important
to ground your comedy in credibility,” notes Shadyac. “Even
though you may have a fanciful premise, when you have people like
we do in the cast, you win your credibility factor.”
The Joy of Sets: Filming Bruce Almighty
When the Bruce Almighty cameras began to roll on a hot day in early
August on a huge exterior set on the Universal backlot which had
been converted into a huge chunk of Buffalo, New York by production
designer Linda DeScenna and a small army of craftsmen and artists,
so did the laughter. It’s not hard to chuckle at the sight
of Jim Carrey, as Bruce Nolan, reporting on the baking of a chocolate
chip cookie that’s the size of a small house. But interwoven
into the fun of filming Bruce Almighty was enormously hard work
by cast and crew to bring the fanciful script to full-blown cinematic
life.
The diverse and difficult elements were pulled together in Herculean
fashion by Jim Brubaker, one of film’s most experienced producers.
“Just as Bruce Nolan is a glass half empty guy,” states
Tom Shadyac, “Jim is a glass half full guy. On our films together,
I’ve said ‘Bru, I need a mountain right here, I need
the sun to go down behind it, I need a tribe of natives, aliens,
an airplane…whatever it is, Bru will figure it out.”
Indeed, among his myriad accomplishments on previous projects over
the course of several decades, Brubaker managed to secure an airplane
for Jim Carrey to chase at the climax of Liar Liar, and secured
an entire tribe of South American Yanomani natives and flew them
to Hawaii, where a tribal village had been re-created for Dragonfly.
“Working with Tom is always challenging and rewarding because
I never know where he’s going,” responds Brubaker. “I
think that one of Tom’s biggest assets is that if he wakes
up in the morning and has a better idea, we put that together and
make it happen.”
Throughout the filming of Bruce Almighty, the daily flow of ideas
from Carrey and Shadyac would result in Brubaker having to play
conjurer once again, delivering nearly last-minute guest appearances
by one of the world’s most famous crooners and, by far, the
world’s most famous purveyor of coffee…but more on that
later.
Challenge number one was to recreate Buffalo, New York on the West
Coast, with an enormous assist from the real Buffalo. “I think
everyone in Buffalo will be very proud of this movie,” says
Brubaker. “We had so much support from everyone in Buffalo
and the state of New York. Everyone went out of their way to make
sure that we had everything we needed to make it real.”
A Bruce Almighty second unit traveled to Buffalo, shooting a copious
number of establishing shots, aerial shots and visual effects plates
of everything from cityscapes to Niagara Falls, all of which would
be seamlessly interwoven into the film by the editors and visual
effects supervisor Bill Taylor.
A great deal of the responsibility of creating a viable East Coast
backdrop in Southern California fell to production designer Linda
DeScenna, a crucial member of Tom Shadyac’s creative team
who had collaborated with him on three previous films. Although
DeScenna and the art department had to create some 100 environments
on location, they completely “made over” a huge chunk
of the Universal backlot, including Brownstone Street, New York
Street and what’s known as Back to the Future Square. “Because
this is my fourth time around Tom, he pretty much knows how I function,”
notes DeScenna, “and vice versa. There was a lot of back-and-forth
collaboration between myself, Tom and Jim Carrey, who as both star
and producer had terrific input.”
“We started the process by researching Buffalo,” says
DeScenna. “We saw what it looks like, how it feels, what the
challenges are with the seasons. We tried to incorporate Buffalo
architecture, color, feeling and even street names, and we even
got the permission to use the call letters for an actual Buffalo
television station at which Bruce Nolan is a reporter.”
Regarding the backlot transformation, DeScenna admits, “It
was a huge undertaking. I’ve used only sections of those streets
for other films, for this time is was a complete fix.” The
Buffalo downtown exterior set was amazingly detailed, with street
after street made over by DeScenna, art director Jim Nedza, set
decorator Ric McElvin and their crews. The art department decorated
some 30 storefronts over a 10 block area, and dressed some 1200
windows with appropriate displays or lights and curtains. “The
whole idea,” notes McElvin, “was not to make it look
like a backlot.”
It looked like a nice place to visit, or even to live in. There
were completely realistic storefronts for a pizzeria, cheese shop,
vitamin store, furniture store, ice cream parlor, travel agency,
newsstand, used book store, watch repair, dance school, Chinese
herbalist, bakery, pet shop, dry cleaning, groceries and even an
Indian Heritage Museum, alluding to Buffalo’s Native American
past. The minute detail even extended to a Buffalo transportation
route map inside of a bus shelter…and a real Buffalo city
bus to go with it!
Director of Photography Dean Semler and his team devised unique
methods to make the light consistent beneath the oft-changing L.A.
skies, including a massive sun control system invented by key grip
William “Bear” Paul. Referred to as “The Bear
Cover,” this was a 40 by 60 foot piece of white material mounted
on a 1000-pound metal frame, and then hoisted up to 100 feet in
the air by a 135 ton crane with four chain motors.
Also in the vicinity was the façade of the television station,
although DeScenna designed a vast interior set, authentic down to
the last paper clip and video monitor, on a Universal soundstage,
while a neighboring stage at the studio contained the entire interior
(and some of the exterior) of Bruce and Grace’s Buffalo apartment.
Away from the studio, a large number of environments were utilized,
including the enormous estate where the stations party was held
in Bruce’s honor, and both the façade and white-on-white
interior of Omni Presents, Inc., where Bruce and the Almighty first
come face-to-face.
Amending the “practical” environments were visual effects
supervisor Bill Taylor and physical effects coordinator Dave Kelsey,
who were called upon to create all manner of extraordinary events
for the purposes of the story. “I was lucky enough to have
the best effects team around me,” says Tom Shadyac, “so
that when we needed an asteroid crashing to earth or have Bruce
and Tom walking across Lake Erie or sitting on top of Mount Everest,
they all just say ‘no problem.’”
“Tom wanted us not to cover ground that had already been covered,”
confirms Taylor. “He wanted the visual effects to be funny,
and to create impossible images that were as persuasive as possible.
Tom also wanted us to be able to think on our feet and be able to
improvise and roll with the creative process. The typical visual
effects movie is laid out almost like an exercise in military geometry,
but Tom Shadyac and Jim Carrey don’t work that way. It’s
a fascinating working method and it keeps everybody on their toes.”
For the sequence in which Bruce Nolan undergoes his live on-air
meltdown from the famed Maid of the Mist boat which carries passengers
close to Niagara Falls, a tremendous green screen cyclorama was
constructed on Universal Studios backlot, at “Psycho Flats”
(in the very shadow of Norman Bates’ terrifying house, and
just a stone’s throw from the remains of Whoville from How
the Grinch Stole Christmas, which starred Jim Carrey). A nearly
full-scale mockup of the Maid of the Mist was mounted on gimbals,
and Taylor’s task would be to tie all of the elements together
with visual effects plates actually shot at the Falls, creating
an uncanny impression of full-scale realism.
Unusually, the majority of the visual effects shots—including
those relying on green screen techniques—were shot out-of-doors
rather than sound stages. “Tom and Dean Semler, our director
of photography, were enthusiastic about the idea of shooting as
much of this composite work outdoors in natural sunlight,”
explains Taylor. “The scope of a scene such as the one in
which Bruce and God walk on Lake Erie would be almost impossible
to create on a sound stage, and it would certainly be nearly impossible
to light with the beautiful soft ambience that Dean shot. It adds
tremendously to the realism.”
Bill Taylor’s visual effects tasks also included the creation
of a bowl of tomato soup that parts like the Red Sea in The Ten
Commandments, and Bruce declaring his omnipotence from the top of
a Buffalo skyscraper in stormy skies.
Chemistry 101
Equaling the cinematic magic was the on-screen chemistry that was
evolving between Jim Carrey and the rest of the cast. The combination
of Carrey’s comedic genius and Morgan Freeman’s vast
experience and gravity created an offscreen relationship which echoed
the film itself. “Morgan has this lifetime of human experience,
with a smile over it all, and that’s what he brought to the
set,” notes Shadyac. “Jim would sometimes ask Morgan
about getting to a certain moment in the scene, and Morgan would
tell him about his process and experience. And interestingly, Morgan
would come to Jim for the comedic insight. It was really amazing
to watch these two experts at their crafts come together and bounce
off each other.”
“Getting to be in the presence of Morgan Freeman was pretty
much one of those dreams come true,” confesses Jennifer Aniston.
“And he was godlike, seeing that striking face in a white
suit. He was phenomenal.”
So impressive was Freeman in his godly persona that at the end of
one shooting day, Tom Shadyac humorously announced that “Morgan
will be hearing confessions for a half-hour following wrap.”
At the center of the movie was Jim Carrey, a relentlessly creative
perfectionist who strives by any means possible to arrive at the
epiphanal on-camera moment, whether comedic or dramatic. “Joel
Schumacher, who directed Jim in Batman Forever, called him the hardest
worker in show business,” relates Shadyac. “Everybody
who works with Jim knows that. He has an extraordinary ethic, and
a constant striving to make things better. I love to see Jim let
go and watch things hit him, like a gift. And when it comes, it’s
a joy to watch.”
Aniston, no slouch at comedy herself (with nine seasons of Friends
and a Golden Globe and Emmy Award to prove it), found that working
with Carrey was “an amazing challenge for me. It’s pretty
miraculous to watch him find his genius, and see how he gets there.”
“I admire Jim’s work very much,” says co-star
Philip Baker Hall (who had previously appeared in The Truman Show,
but never had scenes with Carrey in that film), “and working
with him in this movie is kind of a dream come true. The way Jim
works keeps everything free and open through improvisation, and
his love of playing on the set. I think he’s a guy who’s
just happy to come to work. He just exudes and radiates pleasure
at being here. And that’s very powerful for the rest of us.
“Jim is also very generous as a performer,” continues
Hall. “He’s very eager to get everybody’s input,
and very willing to include it if he thinks it works in the context
of the scene. That’s a remarkable quality for an actor in
his position.”
Hall also enjoyed his work with Jennifer Aniston in the film. “She
was great, as unassuming and delightful off camera as she is on
camera.” Lisa Ann Walter, who plays Grace’s acerbic
sister Debbie in Bruce Almighty, adds “My girlfriends and
I in real life have a saying when we meet somebody who we like.
We say ‘You’ll love her, she’s one of us.’
Jennifer is one of us. She gets down and dirty with girlfriend talk,
and she’s sweet and loving too.” As for Jim Carrey,
Walter says “It’s unfair to be that rich and powerful
in the business, and still be such a great guy.”
All You Need is Love
With all of the hard work over the course of four months of filming,
some days on the Bruce Almighty set were like fiestas. There was
the morning following the presentation of the Emmy Awards, in which
Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac led the entire crew into congratulatory
applause and hugs for a tearfully happy Jennifer Aniston, who had
won the honor for her work on Friends. And the time when Carrey
“stood in” for Buster—a one-year-old mutt rescued
from the pound, who portrays Bruce and Grace’s potty-challenged
pup Sam—by delivering off-screen barks to Jennifer Aniston.
Then there was the day when a certain international symbol for coffee
descended from South America to make a surprise appearance in the
film. Seasoned veterans on the crew (not to mention Jim Carrey)
were in a state of caffeinated excitement over the coffeemeister’s
presence (signature mule and all), to the point where nearly the
entire group jockeyed to have their pictures taken with him after
he completed his one-day cameo role.
Not to mention Tony Bennett Day, a joyous occasion in which the
great crooner made his own special appearance in a restaurant scene.
Grizzled veteran crewpeople turned to mush as Bennett sang “If
I Ruled the World” for the Bruce Almighty cameras. After one
rendition, Jim Carrey leaped on a chair and cried out “Tony,
you DO rule the world!,” to massive applause from all in attendance.
In the end, it was all about love…the love of making the movie,
and the love that the movie expresses between humans and each other,
not to mention between humans and their creator. The atmosphere
on the set was commensurate with the movie’s subject matter
and tone. “Tom is an amazing captain of his ship,” says
Jennifer Aniston. “There’s not one person in the company
who doesn’t love him. Sometimes, making a movie can be tedious,
but he makes it pleasurable and fun.”
Adds Nora Dunn, “The best directors, in my experience, are
the ones who create a space for you as an actor in which you feel
comfortable. And that’s what he does. He creates a nice place
for you, encourages you to improvise, gives you direction and likes
to try things different ways. It’s a nice, intimate feeling
even on a movie as big as Bruce Almighty.”
Says Michael Bostick of his partner, “Tom is affable, charitable,
generous, funny and creates an amazing place to work. As a filmmaker,
he has an uncanny finger on the pulse of what can connect to so
many people, and that generosity of spirit is somewhere in every
frame of all of his films.
“First and foremost, we’re making a comedy,” adds
Bostick. “We’re here to do entertainment, but of course,
we’re touching on God, prayer, the idea of free will. That’s
what attracted Jim, Tom, Bru and myself to the project, and it’s
the emotional underpinning to all of Tom’s movies. He’s
ultimately saying something about the human condition. We’re
not preaching, and I think that at the end of the day, if audiences
have laughed—which we hope they will—I think there’s
an opportunity for them to walk out of the movie reflecting on their
place in the cosmos, and their own sense of faith in whatever may
be out there.”
“This film has the opportunity to get people thinking about
spirit,” notes Sally Kirkland. “Spirit exists in everybody
no matter what race, creed, color, circumstance or lifestyle. The
same humanity and spirit is in everybody, and we just have to love
it all and pray for it all. Bruce Almighty, on a comedic level,
opens you up to that.”
“There’s always going to be some group that’s
going to have a problem with something if you’re dealing with
God,” concedes Jennifer Aniston, “because if it’s
not their way, then it’s the wrong way. But I think audiences
will have fun with Bruce Almighty, and that what’s been achieved
here is promoting nothing but love.”
The final shot of Bruce Almighty took place at 4:45 a.m. on a freezing
early December morning on Harbor Drive in San Diego, in which Bruce
Nolan emerges from his wrecked car and angrily challenges God. Addressing
the shivering but proud company, Shadyac said “Jim Carrey
and I are both seekers, and we’re constantly asking ‘Where
is God?’ We hope that the movie says that God is right here…in
each and every one of us.”
Concludes Shadyac, “The questions that we ask in the movie
have been asked by mystics, sages, saints and the common man since
the dawn of time. And frankly, we don’t have the answers.
We’re not out there to make dogmatic statements, we’re
out there to solicit questions, to give an entertaining experience.
A modern day parable, if you will…with a sense of humor.”
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