The Man Who Sued God (2001)

Director:

Mark Joffe

Writers:

John Clarke (original screenplay)
Patrick McCarville (story)

Release Date:

25 October 2001 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Billy Connolly plays Steve Myers, a lawyer who became a fisherman from frustration. When his one piece of property...

Plot Keywords:

God | Insurance | Lawyer | Act Of God | Lightning

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Billy Connolly	...	Steve Myers
Judy Davis	...	Anna Redmond
Colin Friels	...	David Myers
Wendy Hughes	...	Jules Myers
Bille Brown	...	Gerry Ryan
John Howard	...	Edward Piggott
Emily Browning	...	Rebecca Myers
Blair Venn	...	Les
Vincent Ball	...	Cardinal
Tim Robertson	...	Judge Bonaface
Linal Haft	...	Rabbi
Peter Whitford	...	Moderator
Frank Whitten	...	Primate
Steve Jacobs	...	Hal
Richard Carter	...	Dirk Streicher

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Denmark:7 | UK:15 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Bermagui, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dave throws the newspaper on top of Steve as he's lying in bed, the second shot of Steve shows no newspaper lying on his upper body, but the third and fourth shots show the newspaper again.

Quotes:

Jules Myers: You know they say people make their own luck.
Rebecca: That's stupid! Why would anyone make luck that bad?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Getaway: (#15.33)" (2006)

Warm and entertaining

Billy Connolly is his loveable, foul-mouthed best in this entertaining and very familiar commercial success - bringing together Connolly and five (Judy Davis, Colin Friels, Wendy Hughes, Bille Brown and John Howard) of Australia's most respected actors in a cliche-ridden, formulaic script that poked fun at both insurance companies and churches (it went one better than THE BANK!) was always going to be a favourite. The premise, based on an actual case, is that Connolly, an ex-lawyer whose fishing boat was destroyed by lightning, discovers that such an occurrance is an "act of god" according to his insurance firm, which isn't going to pay up. Instead of suing the company (which would be stupid), he goes about preparing a class action against none other than "god", and has both insurance firms and churches in a mighty fix: essentially, for the churches to deny any liability, they also must deny the existence of "god" (the centre of their entire structure), which logically follows that they have therefore breached the TPA s54, having taken money in the form of donations and parliamentary assistance by duping people into believing that there IS a "god" - unconscionable in anyone's books! Thankfully, though, the film doesn't become overly political, and, besides a lull in the middle (as all commercial films which rely on this formula seem to have), and a weakish climax, the story works pretty well. Connolly is fantastic, and Davis seems to have discovered some comic ability, particularly in the area of slapstick...I can't see her doing too many Abbott&Costello routines in the near future though. All in all, an enjoyable film, which could have even been a family event if not for the swearing - methinks they'll cut it out when it gets to network TV, as they did for THE CASTLE. Rating: 7/10. See also: THE BANK; THE CASTLE; THE WOG BOY; LET'S GET SKASE.