Dear God (1996)

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writers (WGA):

Warren Leight (written by) and
Ed Kaplan (written by)

Release Date:

1 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Many people write to God. Somebody is answering.

Plot:

When letters written to God start getting results, and replies, people everywhere are amazed. The Post Office however is annoyed.

Plot Keywords:

Postal Service | Café | Christmas | Single Parent | Miracle Making

Cast

Greg Kinnear	...	Tom Turner
Laurie Metcalf	...	Rebecca Frazen
Maria Pitillo	...	Gloria McKinney
Tim Conway	...	Herman Dooly
Hector Elizondo	...	Vladek Vidov
Jon Seda	...	Handsome
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Idris Abraham
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Lucille Barnett
Kathleen Marshall	...	Whispering Wendy
Isadora O'Boto	...	Hot Mary
Felix Pire	...	Ramon (as Felix A. Pire)
Donal Logue	...	Webster
Sam McMurray	...	Federal Prosecutor
Nancy Marchand	...	Judge Kits Van Heynigan
Larry Miller	...	State Judge

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #34441) | Finland:S | Australia:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Rysher Entertainment

Trivia:

Final feature movie of Nancy Marchand.

Goofs:

The envelope that Tom puts the $5,000 dollars in moves around. He first puts it into his pocket, then you see it in his breast pocket, then it disappears.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Selena (1997)

Too slight for it's own good...

At first Dear God starts out promisingly enough and looks for all intents and purposes like it's going to be a fun, lightweight, somewhat old fashioned comedy, however initial impressions are misleading, and to be blatantly honest, a little disappointing. You see Dear God isn't really a comedy at all, not in the true sense of the word, what it is, or at least what it tries so hard to be is a "feel good" film...however, sadly it just doesn't quite work.

The disappointing thing is it should work, it's a nice enough idea, it has a fine cast who all give good performances, especially Greg Kinnear who is very good as the hapless con artist, and who is ably supported by the very entertaining Laurie Metcalf, not to mention solid performances by Roscoe Lee Browne, Tim Conway, Maria Pitillo and ever dependable Marshall staple Hector Elizondo, and in Garry Marshall it certainly has a director with a familiar feel for this kind of thing, but the fact is despite all the talent and effort put into it Dear God just comes off as somewhat underdeveloped and half baked. Truth is that it just isn't a very satisfying film.

The films main problem is it all seems rather superficial, it's so deliberately manipulative in an effort to push all the right buttons and be a feel good film that it seems to have forgotten the prime reason for films like this in the first place, entertainment. It also doesn't help that Garry Marshall's direction here is very by the numbers, that the story (by Warren Leight & Ed Kaplan) is utterly predictable and too schmaltzy by half, and that, perhaps worst of all, it's extremely lacking in any real laughs.

With a bit more time spent on the script in an effort to add some genuine humour this could have been quite a nice little film, however as it stands, and despite the fact that Greg Kinnear tries very hard to make what he was given to work with come off as best he can, even his good natured performance can't save what is ultimately a very average film.

One man's opinion. 6/10