Customer Reviews

The Man Who Sued God [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A long time ago, I happened to catch an HBO Comedy Special called "Pale Blue Scottish Person". It was on at around 3 in the morning, and I was having one of my bouts with insomnia. Never had my insomnia paid off such dividends. The comic in question was one Billy Connolly, whom I had never heard of, but immediately fell in love with.
In the years that followed, I kept seeing Billy pop up here and there, and he finally landed on US Television (The poor sod), as Howard Hesseman's replacement on "Head Of The Class". Again, this slightly skewed Scotsman destroyed me.
Last week, I was scanning through my "Video On Demand" and caught sight of "The Man Who Sued God." The title alone was enough to intrigue, so I punched it up.
...And a new love affair with an older, more grizzled, yet equally loveable Connolly began.
The plot, in a nutshell (no spoilers): A fisherman's boat is struck by lightning, the insurance company calls it an "act of God", so the fisherman takes God to court, in the person of the church, which is, after all, God's representative on earth.
With the exception of one rather lame plot point (that being that the fisherman was once a lawyer, so he gets to plead his own case, with all the cinematic hilarity (and, a bit of pathos) that ensues, "The Man Who Sued God" will please mostly everyone who has ever asked the "Eternal Questions".
Without giving anything away, the greatest moment in the film is when "The Church" realizes that, to have no responsibility in the case of the fisherman's boat, they must prove that God does NOT exist! BRILLIANT!
For friends of Connolly, enemies of the Church, or just those who love a truly divine comedy....buy this film TODAY!

Steve Meyers has got some really awful luck. He is a retired attorney in Australia and he has decided to cash in all his money to live a happy peaceful life upon his boat. Unfortunately his boat is destroyed in a strong thunder storm. He figures, no problem I'll talk to my insurance fella and get this cleared up. If you ever had your insurance claim denied you will relate when he is told that it was an act of God. So he decides to sue God to recoup his losses. To sue God, you sue his trusty earthly servants, the only way that they can win the case is to prove that God doesn't exist? There is a very uncomfortable problem.

The movie does not make fun of the church or God. His real beef is with insurnace companies using God as a loophole. It's clever, and witty. Judy Davis is great as Anna, and Billy Connolly is always a good time. Is this the best ever legal movie, no. It doesn't claim to be either, it's fun, watch with a light heart.

I had just been told by my insurance company that, if my neighbor's dead tree falls on my roof, it's an Act of God. After going on a 2-hour rant, I discovered that Billy Connolly does it better! What a sweet, funny film!

The insurance companies and the financial industry that supports them; the churches and the poor people who support them; the media who sing the words of the powerful--these are the villains in this piece. And the little man who takes them on also takes them down with nothing more than a little common sense and a knowledge of the law.

The film also provides an off-beat romance of sorts between the leads.

The ignorance, stupidity and non-funny humor I expected were happily not present in this film. Luckily, these filmmakers and screenwriters knew their material and knew exactly where to stick their pins.

The churchmen may have reacted with more self-reflection than is credible, and the judge certainly did; but maybe showing this type of sensible behavior will lead these authoritarian personalities into a more tolerant, self-critical position.

Entertaining and gratifying.

If you've ever had a casualty claim denied by an insurance company you will certainly relate to Steve, the Irish lawyer who gave up his practice for lobster fishing in a small town in Australia. And if you are an attorney you'll probably cringe when you see the practicing attorneys in the "big City" try to defend the Almighty when Steve decides to sue God since his claim for lightning that destroys his boat is considered "an Act of God". But the rest of us will really enjoy this light hearted "fish out of water" (no pun intended little film that reminds me of the joy of first seeing "Local Hero".

The film was produced by Australian TV and Showtime Australia. So, yes, it was made for TV but it was a CABLE network so we get to hear the F-word and the S-word a lot. No nudity at all and not even a sex joke. No this isn't an Academy Award caliber film but it's a heck of a lot better than most of what's on television and stars Billy Connolly (sometimes too over the top) and Judy Davis (who starts out looking unattractive and strange but grows on you) work well together.

The one think that drops the DVD at least one star is that the US releasing company did not reformat the image for US TVs. Though it's wide-screen letterboxed, the original film was VERY wide-screen. As the opening titles appear, you'll wonder why the actors, the Producers, and the Director only have first names! It's because at least 10% is cut off from each side of the screen. This also affects the main body of the film because there are signs, which are part of the plot, that can't be read. Remember "pan and scan"? Well, this would have been a good place to use it.

So, for some light entertainment, with an interesting premise - "if there is no God to sure, where does that leave organized religion?" - I recommend this film.

Steve Ramm "Anything Phonographic"

I am a fan of Billy Connelly and was delighted to buy this DVD. It was funny and irreverent. The language is a bit on the "adult" side at times but then I bought it for me not the kids.

The film was strangely logical and the conclusion totally unexpected.
Wife had trouble with the Aussie accents, and the sound volume would jump from too hard to hear to extra loud, so keep the remote handy as you need the adjust the volume up and down thru-out the movie. Leaves you with a good feeling unless you're an insurance agent or a man of "the cloth".

Billy Connolly once again proves that he can turn his hand to just about anything. As always, he comes across as a highly intelligent man in whatever part he plays. His sense of comedy, drama, bathos and even terror, marks him as a supremely versatile actor.

In "The Man Who Sued God" it is almost impossible to imagine any
other actor playing the part of the lawyer-turned-fisherman whose
fishing boat is struck by lightning and whose insurance company
tries to fob him off with that old "Act of God" chestnut.

There must be millions of people who can sympathize with this
man's dilemma - having also experienced the kind of 'clever
little tricks' for which insurance companies are infamous.

The film has a strong moral theme without becoming sentimental
or pious. You can really take sides with this one !

Richard KENDRICK.

Really bad acting and boring. Poor costumes and lousy screen play. The movie is so bad it is worth tossing in the garbage.

my brother loves older movies, so when we were talking he told me some videos he would love to have to I ordered them for him for Xmas