The Man Who Sued God

I loved this film. This is meaningful if you share my criteria for enjoyable movies:

Mustn't shock me into nightmares. Must be well acted by engaging characters. Must touch the heart and keep me interested throughout. Must draw me fully into the "consideration" or thematic intention of the story, sparking my own pondering of life.

This film does all this and more. But most of all, it entertained me!

The story has a clever, but really believable premise... a quirky character (like me and my friends), finds himself blind-sided by an unpredictable series of events, and starts to question why and how this could have happened.

Rather than turn into emotional pulp, he rises to the occasion with humor, facing the unknown with growing intuition of how this "place" works... how mysterious and fluid life is... and what is required of a person to be a "man" (male or female).

But there is not an ounce of heaviness in this consideration of life and Reality. It's done with humor and surprises that keep me tickled throughout without dropping the thread of the deeper questioning.

I loved it, and have recommended it to all my friends.

"The Man Who Sued God" - well, right from the start, it's an attention-grabbing name.

The story of retired lawyer Steve Myers (Billy Connolly), whose boat is struck by lightning and, well, he wouldn't beat the insurance companies, so theres gotta be _someone_ to sue, is... interesting to say the least. Connolly and Judy Davis are great, Billy in particular being roaringly funny at some points. Although for all its funniness the film raises some interesting questions as well, like: can the churches sue insurance companies for "breach of copyright" on the phrase "Acts of God"?

A great film.

Aside from it's flaws i did enjoy this movie a great deal, the story builds nicely and Billy Connolly holds together the plot despite the delicacy of the premise and the flaws in the script.

As a comedy it is well worth watching, it's crammed with subtle humour throughout; it's also enjoyable as a romance, again it's subtle, but it's steady and quite heartwarming, despite the clichés.

The story itself is very intriguing, it successfully provokes your thoughts and captures your imagination with interesting questions; but it fails to draw sufficient conclusion at the finale, and it did feel like a bit of a let down.

6/10 It's still worth watching.

The Man Who Sued God

Some might find The Man Who Sued God audacious, perhaps sacrilegious, certainly rebellious. Most will find it very funny.

Steve (Billy Connolly) sees his boat blown up by lightening and the insurance company won't pay up, citing the Act Of God defense against the claim.

Steve, a runaway lawyer, decides to sue God, and his/her representatives, the Churches for the money. It would seem that the Churches could well have to argue against the existence of God to defend the case.

Now no doubt there are good legal reasons why the above couldn't happen although it's usual that whenever theology gets bantered about the arguments never seem to make much real sense.

But in the hands of director Mark Joffe (Cosi, Spotswood), writers John Clark, a.k.a. Fred Dagg (The Gilles Report,) and Don Watson (The Gilles Report, Passion), as well as a terrific cast headed by the wild and wooly Billy Connolly we are given plenty of fun moments.

A lot of the humour is visual – a dog flung above a jetty, Judy Davis as Anna falling into the sea, Anna and Steve's first meeting in a restaurant. Then there's Connolly who has an nicely mad, every man, quality exuding from him that manages to grab humour out of even a hideously pierced foot.

Then there's the photography, the look of the film. There's an early storm scene which is a little disquieting as all really good storms should be and from then on we see cloud scenes that are entrancing.

Judy Davis lends her trademark intensity to her work in a film where nearly everyone seems to gel, even if Wendy Hughes as Jules seems forced in her performance. The ideas are lively if confused and there's a lovely surrealistic touch or two that gives this movie a depth far beyond comedy.

And if you crave a good belly laugh or two The Man Who Sued God delivers.

4 Lively Flys

When events happen that are not within predictable range, and there seems nothing for it but accept it as an act of god, many people accept it as inevitable. That's well and good for little things, but not when the event is ruinous, destructive or major. And especially when it's an event that causes a loss' where that loss was covered by insurance.

That sort of loss befell our man, played with insight, verve and delicacy by Billy Connolly, in 'The Man Who Sued God'. What's important about this movie is that it's not about Billy Connolly, it's not him mugging for the camera and pulling stunts. It's a drama about a man in a tough situation, with romantic and comedic elements included. It's well written, played with truth and energy by the entire cast, and shot vividly, both for the exterior scenes of 'beautiful OZ', and the interiors, where so much of the action takes place.

He's just had his fishing boat blown out of the water by a direct hit from lightening, and it's all covered by insurance. Until the small print comes into play, and the company refuses to pay, saying that the lightning strike was an act of God. There is no other recourse than the Courts, and our man sues God for the loss of his boat and livelihood.

He sues all denominations of religion, as the servants and agents of God on Earth, and they all hire lawyers. It begins to look a bit like 'The Verdict' for a while, but the interplay between the different religions turns the action from that path, prior to deja vu setting in. There's courtroom drama that rings true, and interpersonal that carries the story forward without resorting to artificial devices. It's a drama with comedic moments and a romantic element, in a warm and compact package, which is a good thing.

All in all, a feel-good movie without the smarminess -you can feel good about liking this one.