Phone number in 'Bruce Almighty' not answer to woman's prayers

AP ^ | May 27, 2003

[george wythe]

[Dan from Michigan]

Reminds me of "867-5309"

[Conservative til I die]

Saw this film on Saturday night, I too was a bit surprised they used a legitimate phone # rather than a 555.

[george wythe]

'Bruce Almighty' a bit cheesy, but sweet

Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a New York television reporter, hates reporting goofy human interest stories and instead wishes to be an anchorman on the nightly news.

After losing the opportunity to some other snotty reporter, he goes berserk on screen and loses his job. The day goes from bad to worse, as he goes home to greet his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston), and angrily yells at her and blames God for all of his petty troubles.

God responds by appearing in the human form of Morgan Freeman, endowing Bruce with all of his powers. He gives Bruce the challenge to take on his job to see if he can do any better.

With all the powers of the world, does Bruce decide to end world hunger, fix the ozone layer, or cure cancer? No, of course not. He instead uses his powers to become the most popular man on the nightly news in Buffalo. He also makes his dog relieve himself in the toilet, and gets his girlfriend bigger boobs.

Carrey plays the same old Carrey. He cuts loose in a way he hasn't done in a long time.

Despite the endless jokes and the hilarity of Carrey, the movie as a whole is relatively cheesy. There's not a whole lot of surprising and suspenseful twists and turns.

The scenes about love are tearjerkers, and the ending is a happy one. The comedy is funny and sweet, with an obvious moral to go along with it.

[Dog Gone]

Reached by telephone, Jenkins declined further comment

BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA

[Congressman Billybob]

If the producers of this film had exercised their brains, they would have taken out a real phone number, starting with 800 or 877, and used that in the movie. Then they could have put some sort of advertisement on that number, so sales of whatever would be generated.

As it is, they are going to get their socks sued off, deservedly, and pay out money with nothing coming in return. NBC had a similar problem about 30 years ago when they changed their corporate logos without vetting the new version. It was identical to the logo for Nebraska Public TV. That error cost them about $250,000, which was a lot of money at the time.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up on UPI and FR (the title is not a misprint), "Memorial Day 2033."

[Constitution Day]

Jenny Jenny, who can I turn to?

[Cincinatus]

"What am I to do?"

Tell them that this is God speaking and if they ever call this number again, there will be consequences. Serious consequences.

[Chi-townChief]

... or 634-5789.

[Mears]

I can't believe that the studio was so stupid,they have been using 555 #'s for years.

[CaptRon]

"I e-mailed Universal Studios about this issue. ... I think I want payment."

I'll bet you do, honey.

[boris]

When I saw the first Indiana Jones movie ("Lost Ark") I realized that the digits stenciled on the side of the crate in the final "warehouse" scene were a phone number.

This was easy because it was 9 digits and included my area code and exchange.

I tried calling it at all hours of the day and night, weekends, etc., for several days. Always busy.

I bet it had a recording saying, "congratulations--you figured it out!"...

--Boris

[boris]

When I saw the first Indiana Jones movie ("Lost Ark") I realized that the digits stenciled on the side of the crate in the final "warehouse" scene were a phone number.

This was easy because it was 9 digits and included my area code and exchange.

I tried calling it at all hours of the day and night, weekends, etc., for several days. Always busy.

I bet it had a recording saying, "congratulations--you figured it out!"...

--Boris

[Porterville]

"I think I want payment"

Stoner-glassblower-hippie-"artist" always, always, always, want something for nothing....I hate liberals.

[NittanyLion]

"What am I to do?" Jenkins wrote on an Internet forum for visual artists. "I e-mailed Universal Studios about this issue. ... I think I want payment."

Pay the extra $5.00 per month for the "redirect calls" service. Go online and find the phone number to someone in Universal Studios senior management. Redirect your calls to that number, and wait one day.

That should take care of the problem.

[george wythe]

Reminds me of "867-5309"

Was that the phone number on the song "Jenny" from the 1980s?

[gorush]

Every one knows that God's phone number is "et cum spiri two two oh". (It's an old pre-vatican 2 alter boy joke).

[sharktrager]

I don't think this is "something for nothing". She basically can't use her own cell phone, and has had to put up with a bunch of people harassing her.

They should compensate her for their stupidity.

[NittanyLion]

Stoner-glassblower-hippie-"artist" always, always, always, want something for nothing....I hate liberals.

This was a foreseeable problem. Universal Studios blew it, and now the woman has been financially harmed. Not much, but at least the cost of this month's bill + lost cellphone time.