The Man Who Sued God

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

Everyone seems to be taking this movie waaaaaaay too seriously. Billy Connolly is terrific and the story is wonderful. A great feel good movie and except for the non-stop obscenities, would be a great family film. Terrific writing and great delivery. It's not meant to be an academy award winning drama...it's a comedy for heaven's sake. I never even knew who Billy Connolly was, and now I'm a fan. He's irreverent and incredibly funny, kind of like a Scottish George Carlin. People are complaining about the end, but even though it's a little hokey, it's still enjoyable. If you want to watch a movie with an unbelievably bad ending, watch Russel Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma. Now there's a bad ending.

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...

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.

Scottish stand up comedian Billy Connolly (recently featured in The Last Samurai) plays divorced and disillusioned ex-lawyer Steve Myers, who now whiles away his time on a fishing boat in New South Wales, Australia. One afternoon his boat, which is now basically his life, is destroyed by a bolt of lightning, which also results in a chard of the hull being embedded in his foot. On crutches he approaches his insurance company who refuse to pay as the incident is deemed an 'Act of God'. Connolly's traditional Celtic brand of outrageous, yet amusing, expletives result in his being carried unceremoniously out of the building. Undeterred by this he decides to challenge the very meaning of the term 'Act of God', which by it's very nature determines that someone (in this case God) is responsible, and if someone (God) is responsible then they (or He) can therefore be sued… or at least their (or His) representatives can. The subsequent court case generates a media storm as Myers, a not unaccomplished and uncharismatic courtroom tactician, initially runs rings around his opponents. Thus begins the David and Goliath battle between the little man and the formidable powers of the Church and the massive legal and insurance firms in their employ. Myers also gathers 800 or so co-plaintiffs, all victims of the 'Act of God' clause, to support him in his case. It eventually gets to the point where it looks like the only way the church are going to win their case is to prove that God doesn't exist. It's a clever, simple premise and one you wish you'd thought of yourself.

It's no coincidence that Connolly's character is a fisherman, or even a fisher of men, and that his beef is with the corrupt insurance companies representing an apparently corrupt church. If it was suddenly discovered that Christ was Scottish, then it would have been Connolly calming the storm out on the Sea of Galilee, and Connolly who threw the moneylenders out of His Father's house, and, hirsute and ranting as he is in this movie, impressive he would have been too. Billy Connolly as Christ – now that would even give Mel Gibson a run for his money… I bet he'd be great at parting the Red Sea… oh, no, that was Moses wasn't it. Never mind, he could play that role too (nobody seems to worry about accents in movies anyway) and in fact he almost pleads to the court on behalf of his co-plaintiffs 'Let my people go', or rather 'Give my people their money you bastards', but with a smile and a twinkle in the eye that only Connolly can get away with – well, him and Sean Connery. Why haven't they been teamed up in a movie? It seems like a match made in Heaven to me.

There are many storms brewing toward the end of the film; Religious zealots surround the courthouse hurling abuse at the blasphemer Myers; Myers can't afford to lose the case; the lawyers can't afford to either, nor can the church, and there's also a mighty wind storm approaching the town bringing forest fires and floods (and no doubt frogs, plague and locusts) with it. Needless to say it's a happy ending, the lawyers and the church get their knuckles rapped, the image of God remains untarnished (of course), Myers gets the girl and the zealots go home sulking and dragging their large wooden cross with them in another Christ reference.

It's a refreshing film, as most Australian movies are. There's great attention to character and background detail. Connolly (Water, Mrs. Brown, Muppet Treasure Island, Boondock Saints, Timeline), undoubtedly a talented actor and comedian, is obviously cast for distribution purposes (Myers isn't a particularly Scottish name after all) and seems a little out of place in the Australian backdrop, but his rants are very funny. Veteran and versatile Australian actress Judy Davis (Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Absolute Power, The Reagans), as Myers' journalistic co-conspirator and love interest, is subject to some slapstick humour as a drunken and literally legless Myers wrecks a restaurant, and the excellent supporting cast are all the more convincing for their unfamiliarity.