The Weather Man (2005) -vs- Bruce Almighty (2003)

Review by Bryce Zabel 

What both of our contenders have in common is that each one gives us a huge film star playing a local TV star who's not satisfied with where life and career have taken him. In The Weather Man, David Spritz (Nicholas Cage) is a Chicago weathercaster with a ruined marriage, troubled kids, a disappointed dad and self-esteem in the pits. Bruce Almighty gives us Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) who seems to have a much better life as a feature reporter but thinks it means nothing because he is not, God forbid, an anchorman.

"I always talk about the weather, too, but I never do anything about it, either."

I've been a TV anchorman and a TV weatherman. I wanted to tell Bruce to take a chill pill because since the only upside to anchoring is staying dry in inclement weather and, besides, he got to sleep with Jennifer Aniston at night in his film life, but he was determined. I wanted to tell David that his job was really a lot tougher and more important than he made it sound, but he kept acting like anybody could do it well (despite my earlier-in-life on-air attempts to prove him wrong). Oh, well...

I guess it's human nature to not be satisfied with wherever you are in life (otherwise, what would become of that wonderful "the grass is always greener on the other side" metaphor?). The truth here is that Bruce's angst is much less worthy than David's. David could easily stand being a weatherman, and even put up with people throwing fast food at him on the street as they do in this film for sport, if only he could re-connect his personal life into something that gave him hope again. But Bruce only wants to get his mug out there every night for maximum air-time. I've worked with people like that before. They are not, generally, people you want to be friends with and, honestly, they don't really have time to be friends with anyone but themselves anyway.

The Weather Man is a studio film that feels like an indie film. Some people have pointed out that it's a downer and that is true, but that doesn't disqualify it from being good and nutritious as a piece of filmmaking. Bruce Almighty is a comedy with aspirations to being a "meaningful" comedy because Bruce has to take over God's job for a while and discovers that it sucks being God, too. Even though Bruce had a positive studio ending for Jim Carrey to play, I didn't feel his character's pain as much as I felt that portrayed by Nicholas Cage.

Other than the thematic element of lead characters dissatisfied with their lot in local news, I probably shouldn't have compared these two films. They are wholly dissimilar. An apple and an orange. It depends on what you're in the mood for. As I write this, I'm in the mood for something crunchy that will stick with me for at least a few minutes.

The Weather Man. Because I cared about David Spritz's problem and, frankly, I couldn't give a rat's ass about Bruce Nolan's.