Oh - God! Movie Review - Starring George Burns and John Denver

By David Terr

"Oh, God!" is an amusing theological comedy directed by Carl Reiner and Starring George Burns as God and John Denver as a modern-day Moses, who gets visited by God and told to spread the word of His existence. The movie is very entertaining as well as thought-provoking.

Jerry Landers (Denver) is a rather ordinary man who lives in LA and works at a supermarket. One night, to his surprise, he receives a letter telling him that God grants him an interview at a specified location downtown. Naturally Jerry believes this to be hoax, figuring it's a practical joke pulled by one of his friends. He throws out the letter but it mysteriously appears in back of his head. He then rips it up and goes to sleep. The next day at work, however, he sees the letter yet a third time, this time inside a head of lettuce. Now somewhat bewildered, he decides to check it out.

Jerry goes to the address on the letter, which is on the 27th floor of a building downtown. He arrives in a large empty white suite with a large intercom in the middle of the room. A voice talks to him from the intercom. Jerry still believes this is his friend's doing. But now the voice on the intercom tells him the room he's in doesn't exist and to go check it out. Jerry takes the elevator back down to the lobby and soon learns that the building only has 17 floors. He rides the elevator to the top and arrives back on the 27th floor. He tries going down a couple of times and still arrives back on the 27th floor! Finally, Jerry begins to become convinced that he really did talk to God.

As Jerry drives home, he hears God's voice once again being played on his radio, which is broken. He tries changing the station, but hears the voice on all the stations.

Jerry tries to explain to his wife that he'd encountered God, but she doesn't believe him.

The next morning, after Jerry takes a shower, he hears God's voice once again in the bathroom. Since there's no radio in the bathroom, Jerry is now convinced that God is there in person. He steps out of the shower and sees an old man with glasses. God tells Jerry that he chose a form he'd understand, but that he could take any form he wanted. Jerry asks God some basic theological questions and God answers him. He also explains to Jerry that he wants him to get the word out to the world that He exists and wants humanity to do a better job.

Jerry goes to a news agency and asks them to print a story that he'd received a visit from God. They refuse to do the story until he comes back a second time after God made it rain in his car.

Once the word gets out, Jerry begins making public appearances. He gets asked to do an interview on the Dinah Shore show, in which he describes to a criminologist what God looked like to him.

Jerry begins to alienate his family. He attracts a large group of religious fanatics to his house, much to their dismay.

Jerry gets called by a group of powerful theologians, including Reverend Willie Williams, a former football player turned evangelist. They are annoyed by Jerry and tell him to take a theological examination while alone in a hotel room. Jerry goes to the location with the test and gets visited by God, who answers the questions for him.

God also tells Jerry to publicly denounce Reverend Williams as the fraud he is, which he does, following a large sermon. As a result, Jerry gets charged with slander and sent to court.

In court, Jerry tries to defend himself by telling how God had visited him. He calls God as his witness, and God appears before the court. God proves His existence by making a deck of cards appear and disappear and then making himself disappear. However, the court has no record of the conversation having taken place. As a result of the confusion, however, the charges against Jerry are dismissed.

Jerry still loses his job, but in one final visit, God tells Jerry that he did a good job.

Oh, God! - Dave's Top Movies

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