The Man Who Sued God (2001)

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.

One cannot deny that this is a piece that the "Big Yang" presumably made for the money. In many aspects, this is certainly very little in this film that deviates from the standard formula.It all revolves around good old Billy... so much so that toward the end when they are trying to fill the film out to 90 minutes, he spends a lot of time just loitering unwholesomely in Churches...I suppose that in some ways the idea behind this is wholly novel, really it never escapes the fact it wants to be a schmaltzy romance and a legal drama. Certainly the emphasis seems to be on Conolly all the way, perhaps to the exclusion of all else. As mentioned before, it can never be more than a star-vehicle for him.It does actually have a good point to make but really, any kind of point it tries to make it ignored for the bland happy ending and classic "bad guys lose" scenario.

Movie Review: The Man Who Sued GodDirected By: Mark JoffeWritten By: Don Watson and John ClarkeStarring: Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, Colin Friels, Wendy Hughes and Bille Brown.The very concept of the movie and the bold title alone would seem to be enough to trigger off a political and religious minefield. As it is, the concept is very carefully handled to be inconclusive and theoretical. Connolly is careful to point out that he is not suing God himself, but rather the very idea of an Act of God as an insurance get-out clause. Connolly, after being told by the insurance company that lightning striking his boat was an act of God, takes the logical course and attempts to sue God.This, at its core, is a very simple romantic-comedy/family-movie with very simple laughs. There is no deep or intelligent humour to this. All the laughs either come from swearing laced outbursts from Connolly, or from people falling over. This is simple, yet effective, and Connolly is on high-form throughout. Your mother will really love this film, especially if they are fans of Connolly, as mine is. Connolly is not only an outstanding comedian, but also a formidable actor, as he proved in Mrs. Brown and continues here.The inevitable romance in this romantic comedy is seemingly dropped in from out of nowhere, with the deus ex machina clanking loudly towards the end. There is no real build up or detailed characterisation for why the two characters should finally become an item, we are merely meant to accept it as it is. This is ultimately unsatisfying.The character development for Connolly himself is well handled, and the way he changes from an extremely annoyed lawyer turned fisherman into a calm, cool and collected gentleman is handled well. His relationship with Arthur (the dog) provides much of the humour and sentimentality for the character, as does his relationship with his ex-wife (Wendy Hughes), Anna Redmond (Judy Davis) and his brother, David (Colin Friels). The writing and performance on all sides is excellent, and commendations to all involved. Ultimately, this is something of a love-story by the numbers, but the very idea of a man suing God gives the old story and plot something new. The ludicrousness of the case and the larger than life characters make this film worth viewing. Also the political and theological hot-bed it opens up with leave you with something to think about and discuss long after the movie has ended.STORY: 8/10 DIRECTION: 5/10 PERFORMANCE: 8/10 OVERALL: 7/10RECOMMENDED TO: Mothers, aunties and people who like Connolly. DON'T WATCH WITH: Catholic priests, insurance workers or God.

This film's title attracted me already for a long time, but now I finally decided to rent it. And I wish I did it before. I already had a lot of respect for the writer(s) who came up with the idea for the film and specially came up with the title: 'The Man Who Sued God' tickled my curiosity. I never was more stimulated to see a film than by this title.The film is as refreshing as its title. Of course this is because of the absurd idea of suing God, but mainly because of the energetic and stimulating performance of Billy Connolly. I can't see how anyone could have played this role better than he. He's dynamic, intelligent and stealing the show with his charming appearance.It's a charming film and you would almost think it was based on true happenings. I don't even know for sure that it isn't. Although the film is very standard executed, the original subject and Billy Connolly make it interesting and as said, very refreshing!