The Man Who Sued God

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

Billy Connolly plays a fisherman living in Australia, having given up law out of frustration with the ‘system'. When a freak of lightning wipes out his small fishing boat and the insurance companies refuse to pay (as it's an ‘act of God') he takes up law again to take on the system, the legal fiction, the churches and the big insurance companies. Although it's title and trailer maybe suggest a mindless slapstick (and it contains a fair amount of this), the film actually delivers something more mentally challenging and is successfully entertaining by dint of hard work on an initial premises rather than any series of fast jokes. Interesting conundrums about class actions, legal liability and the legal ramifications of the existence or non-existence of ‘God' abound, and the lead characters demonstrate a humanity that makes the comedy all the more touching.

I went to see this film following 3 favourable reviews on Urban Cinefile. Personally, I thought the film was pretty average. Its a courtroom drama that (in most cases) avoids the cliches of the genre. The editing seemed choppy to me; camera work was claustrophobic. It deals with religious issues well, and raises some questions about insurance industry practices. Billy connoly is great, as is judy davis (as always). nothing spectacular here though...

"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.