The Man Who Sued God

Synopsis: Divorced lawyer turned fisherman-dropout Steve Myers (Billy Connolly) turns to the courts when his fishing boat and home is destroyed by lightning but it's not the insurance company who refuse to pay out he sues, but God, whose act they claim it was. The case attracts the attention of the media, notably, in the shape of disgruntled journalist Anna Redmond (Judy Davis).

If it were not for Billy Connelly's expletive-laden dialogue this would be classified as a family movie. It follows the well-worn nice-little-guy-vs-big-bad-establishement pattern seen in innumerable variants and gives it the good-ol'-Aussie larrikin treatment ('tho Connelly is supposed to be an ex-pat Irishman), setting the story partly in Sydney, partly in some Southern NSW coastal town and to give more than enough ordinariness, in the latter case, home-sweet-home is a caravan park.

Although stylishly filmed by veteran Australian cinematagrapher Peter James, this is like a plate of Vegemite sandwiches served on a silver platter. There's really not much going on here. As a comedy, its genial rather than funny (it could have played like the The Castle). As a drama it's perfunctory. The main players go to waste, mostly, with the exception of Colins Friels, seeming out of place in this very lightweight effort. Billy Connelly is in his element - but why Billy Connelly? There is nothing in the storyline that motivates his Irishness. An Australian character would have been, just as, if not more apt and the production may then have rung truer. Perhaps this is what producers have to do to get overseas distribution these days.

Strangely anachronistic, this suggested to me the parochial Australian film style of the 60s and 70s - the Alvin Purple-style 'struth ruth battler comedies. Joffe's direction is often heavy-handed with too many meaningful looks and a lot of the potential in the plot, notably Judy Davis's character is largely missed. By the by, I would recommend anyone who does not have a considerable budget to avoid staging angry crowd scenes. They just look naff. Although the critics have been kind to this you won't miss much by waiting until it comes out on video.

 

 

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