Oh, God! (1977)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

George Burns picks an average Joe, the married assistant manager of a grocery store with two kids (John Denver as Jerry Landers) to put out the message that he is unhappy with the direction things are going, but that everything necessary to put things right is available on the earth and it is up to the people if things are going to change for the better. And Jerry doesn't even believe in God, at first anyways. Now maybe God was smart to pick an unbeliever, since he would have no preconceived notions of God, no childhood Sunday school lessons with which to fight what his eyes are telling him.But Jerry is confused by this Libertarian God. Think about it- Burns' interpretation of God definitely has an opinion of how things should go, but refuses to lift a finger to change anything. He believes the people should do the fixing and that He should have a "hands off" policy. Even after Jerry gets in trouble with his new role and risks his marriage, his career, even everything he owns in a lawsuit with a televangelist, and he and God are saying their goodbyes, God doesn't promise to do anything to help him repair the smoldering remains of his life. He just tells Jerry that he did a good job getting the message out and walks off. Yep, that sounds like the God I know.As for the acting, at the time George Burns did a guest appearance on the TV show Alice and mentioned he was picked for the lead because he "was the only person old enough to play the part". Burns did a great job of slinging the occasional zinger in the film like in his younger years playing straight man to Gracie. John Denver did a convincing job of playing a working stiff that just doesn't have time for this stuff but feels he must comply. What else do you do when God keeps picking you up in a taxi? And poor Terri Garr, she spent 1977 playing a housewife who is married to a modern day Moses in this film, and married to a guy making the replica of a mountain out of mashed potatoes in her den in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".Looking at it 40 years after the fact, the one thing that this film got right way ahead of its time was the crooked televangelist, artfully played by Paul Sorvino. So artfully I had forgotten that he was playing the part until I rewatched the film recently. God knows that the guy is enriching himself in his ministry, and his sermons never talk about morality, just the importance of giving. This was 14 years before Bob Tilton was exposed as a con artist on ABC's primetime live, 10 years before Jim Bakker was found to be running his "Christian amusement park" as a giant Ponzi scheme, and eleven years before Jimmy Swaggart was caught in an ongoing sex scandal even while condemning another dishonored pastor for his own.And as for Mike Murdock? Don't get me started. Let's just say that Paul Sorvino has the act down pat from the big hair to the rather colorful wardrobe to the Southern accent and fake politeness. It's a very quirky film, certainly with lots of made up feel good philosophy attributed to God, but it is fun, certainly different, and try making a film like that today with all of the political correctness in the air. I'd recommend it.

Before Morgan Freeman was God, George Burns was God, and actually there's something very appealing about God being played by a short, elderly man with a soft voice and a gentle sense of humour. Not that this was what God looked like, of course. God explained that this was just the way he chose to appear to Jerry Landers (played by John Denver) - the Tarzana, California supermarket assistant manager through whom God chose to speak a word to the world. God couldn't appear as he really was, it was explained, because Landers (and presumably the rest of us) just couldn't handle that. Point taken. That actually reminded me a bit of John's Gospel, in speaking of Jesus: "no one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."This is a very low-key movie for the most part about God choosing to make an appearance basically to plead - through Jerry - for people to start getting along with each other and to stop hurting each other; an appeal to set aside all the things that divide us and start to focus on being the human family. Not a bad message - but, as the film portrays, a message not received well at all. Instead of embracing the message, those who heard it chose to either attack or ridicule the messenger - surely a warning for those who claim to bring a word from God. Through Burns, God isn't portrayed as a being of great power, breathing fire and brimstone and anxiously waiting to bring judgement upon us. God is frustrated with us, disappointed in us, amused by us, but not especially angry. It's hard to imagine God as portrayed here being angry.The movie breaks out of its low key feel very briefly for a scene involving the Reverend Willie Williams (played by Paul Sorvino.) One of a panel of religious "experts" called upon to pass judgement on whether or not Jerry's experience of God was real, Sorvino's portrayal of Williams - a corrupt and greedy evangelist - was very well done; a spark of real energy in an otherwise sedate movie. Williams and the others on the panel, of course, are all convinced that God would only speak through them (or at least through their various religions) and not through a lowly supermarket assistant manager. But God chose the humble and unknown Jerry. There's a theological point being made there - an important one actually, and such theological points are made throughout the movie, although never in a hard-sell, in your face sort of way. Teri Garr (who seems to me to have been everywhere in the 70's) was also cast in this as Jerry's devoted but doubtful wife.Some compare this movie to "Bruce Almighty." It actually has more in common I think with "Evan Almighty" - the idea of God choosing a person to speak through and having him rejected as either insane or a fraud. Jerry wasn't given God's powers, after all - just a message for the world. Low key and sedate, this movie won't get your heart pounding or cause outrageous laughter. It's just gently thought- provoking and mildly amusing. A pleasant viewing experience. (6/10)

Here you have, a good natured assistant manager of a supermarket named Jerry Landers(John Denver, 1943-97) gets chosen by God(George Burns, 1896-1996) to spread His Word. A little skeptical at first, Jerry is eager to give it a shot. He faced some sharp criticism by everyone around him. Not even his wife(Terri Garr) was supportive. In some spots, she was. Jerry discovered his own job has been dishonest to their customers. And a respected preacher(Paul Sorvino) who sues Jerry is exposed by God as a "hypocrite", and should be selling shoes. In the courtroom scene, I liked the part when He's sworn in "to help me Me". Jerry held his grounds against a group of theologians. The miracles have been provided. After all he has gone through, he has paid the price when he loses his job at the supermarket. Only God cared for him. Jerry would have been a lot happier working at a more honest supermarket anyway. Believing His Words was a must have for Jerry. Great cast, great story. Awe inspiring, this movie is a true gem. Believe my friend, believe. 5 stars.

IN STARK CONTRAST to the big budget, super fx,giant who's who casts and plenty of flesh attributes that so many movies gravitate toward, we occasionally get some small co$t, good story, regular-type characters with little or no computer animation nor sexploitation in evidence. And, surprising as it may be to some of these Hollywod Big Shots, the movie is eminently successful and even critically acclaimed.WHEN WE LOOK for examples of such films, we are inundated with many. Just imagine when we all saw titles like ROCKY, MY BIG FAT Greek WEDDING and the all time underdog of kiddie films, BENJI. Inspite of all of the conventional wisdom from entertainment world sharpies, films like these do, somehow, get made. CONCERNING THE CIORCUMSTANCES leading up to the exhibiting of a film such as this OH GOD (Warner Bros./1977), it in itself, is certainly a "Celluloid Miracle."THE DEPICTION OF anyone who is so "Middle Class" or even "Blue Collar" as to attend Church, Synagogue, Temple or Mosque regularly is considered to be too outdated and 'corny' for so many Hollywood money men. Hedonism, epicurean-ism, greed and narcissism are considered to be the norm and are all too often glorified. IN SHARP CONTRAST, this little, inexpensive and family oriented film scores big number$ at the Box Office$ receipt$; which is, of course, a main objective in any studio. (Afyter all, it is a business!)OUR STORY: Grocery Store Manager, Jerry Landers finds the rat race of everyday life to be just to much. Being frustrated at every turn, he finds himself automatically saying or shouting, "Oh, God!" After some time, he has an experience where an elderly man (Geotrge Burns) appears to him. He tells Jerry that he is indeed who Jerry has been summoning for so long, being God, Himself!AS WE WOULD expect, Jerry's natural tendency toward skepticism wins out as we find ourselves bearing witness to a multitude of embarrassing and very funny situations. The gag situations are basic, with nothing of any real originality in evidence; save for one small, newly ordained tidbit of screen comedy. That would be the personality and delivery of non-actor and star, John Denver.ALL THROUGH THE story, we find controversy and conflict with Jerry Landers' unbelievable claims of having talked to the Almighty. Be it his boss, his wife (Terri Garr-woo, woo, woo, woo!), his neighbors or leaders of the Major Faiths, the reactions are the same end results; that being a hilarious and ever building audience reaction.BUT, THE FRIVOLITY only goes so far as the comical aspects find themselves being tempered with what can only be interpreted as being a 'Message!'BUT THE STORY (as would a real life situation) demand consultation with a "Higher Authority." In this case, a committee of inquiry is assembled; which is composed of prominent clerics from all across the spectrum of believers. We have: Barry Sullivan (Bishop Reardon), Jeff Corry (Rabi Silverstone), Titos Vandis (Eastern Orthodox Bishop) and others. NEEDING AN ADDITIONAL plot twist, the scenarist opts for having God/George Burns taking exception to one member of this Omnibus of Ecumenical Ecclesiastics as being unworthy and a wealth seeking phony. The writer picks a politically target in actor Paul Sorvino's characterization of Tele Evangelist, Rev. Willie Williams. (Southern Whites and Fundamentalist Christians are and have been fair game for vilification in both life and fiction.)THE CRESCENDO OF the story is finally reached in the Judicial Proceedings that follow. This also brings us what is arguably the best gag in the movie. That is, when God is called upon to take the stand and, when sworn in with the words, "......so help you God!", George Burns replies, "So help me, me!"OTHERWISE, THE COURT scenes are cleverly played in the manner of those in Frank Capra's MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (Columbia, 1937). The cast is also staffed with many veterans and guest stars such as: Donald Pleasance, Ralph Bellamy, William Daniels, Barnard Hughes, George Furth, Dinah Shore and even Director, Carl Reiner steps before the camera to join the fun.IN THE END, God just vanishes; having left his message with the John Denver/Jerry Landers character and to us, the audience; that we may think over what it meant. OH GOD is a movie that both entertains and provokes thought. As an additional asset, it proved to be a BOX OFFICE $UCCE$$!NOW YOU Hollywood big shots, isn't that a plan? So, do it already!