Bruce Almighty | 2003
- Locations |
- Los Angeles, California;
- New York State
- DIRECTOR |
- Tom Shadyac
God (Morgan Freeman – who else?) hands over his powers to kvetching TV presenter Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) to see how well he can do the job.
The rather clumping, but very successful, comedy never exploits the full potential of the premises but goes instead for the broad laughs.
Set in ‘Buffalo’, the film was filmed mostly on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, including the 'Mill Valley Town Square' from Back to the Future, the ‘New York Street’ and the ‘Brownstone Street. The real Buffalo & Niagara Falls are seen briefly, captured by a Second Unit team.
Frustrated Bruce wrecks his car, and challenges God, on Harbor Drive, San Diego.
‘Omni Presents’, the old building where he subsequently meets his maker is the old Rykoff Building, 741 Terminal Street, part of the old Warehouse Row complex at Seventh and Alameda, in Downtown Los Angeles up-and-coming industrial district.
The lavish restaurant, in which Tony Bennett croons If I Ruled The World for Bruce and Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston), is Cicada, in the Oviatt Building, 617 South Olive Street, downtown Los Angeles.
It's a magnificent space, occupying what was a former high-end haberdashery store, and you might recognise it as the restaurant in which Julia Roberts struggles with snails in Pretty Woman. It's classy 1920s deco interior is also seen in Final Analysis, Indecent Proposal, Doug Liman’s Mr and Mrs Smith and it's the site of Viola Davis' briefing at the opening of Suicide Squad.
