What If God Were One Of Us?

Oh, God!

Cast: George Burns, John Denver, Teri Garr, Paul Sorvino

Director: Carl Reiner

Movie Help Web Popcorn Kernels:

An ensemble of highly regarded professionals combine to make the movie Oh, God! more than a religious farce or cheap comedy. There's an awful lot of sentimentality associated with this movie, much more than Avery Corman's earlier novel, but the loss of nuance and satire is to be somewhat expected in the translation to the big screen.

Screenwriter extraordinaire Larry Gelbart adapted Corman's story and won a Writer's Guild of America Screen Award for his adaptation. Gelbart was also nominated for an Oscar because the Corman story was a tough adaptation to handle. Television fans will remember Gelbart as a writer on Sid Cesar's Your Show of Shows and head writer on M*A*S*H. He has since penned Tootsie, Bedazzled and the Belushi flop, Neighbors.

Historical Context

Let's remember that this movie was released in 1977. Still reeling from Vietnam, Watergate and economic woes, Americans elected their first Democratic president in a decade. Nostalgic television shows such as Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were top rated and a desire for escape seemed prevalent.

Movies were released that year reflecting this break from reality. They included Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever and Pete's Dragon. In short, folks could escape to space, to disco or to fantasy.

Moreover, there was Oh, God, teaming hot Top 40 star John Denver with beloved George Burns. In combining a musician whose most exuberant public expression was Far out! and a recent Oscar winner (in 1976, for The Sunshine Boys), director Carl Reiner played both sides of the fence.

Serious moviegoers would not miss a chance to catch George Burns' follow-up role after winning an Academy Award at age 81. Likewise, Denver was at the height of his popularity and his star would never again shine quite so bright as in the mid 1970s. Even Gelbart, coming from TV's M*A*S*H and director Carl Reiner were known commodities, although Reiner had been conspicuously low-key in the years preceding Oh, God!. In fact, this movie became his ticket to directing Steve Martin in three consecutive films.

The Plot

God approaches a non-religious man who is half nebbish, half all-knowing patriarch. God's mission is simple. He wants the man to tell people that He's still alive, still cares, but that it is up to humanity to change its course. God, you see, doesn't get involved in details.

After the Los Angeles Times and ABC News report the visitation as human interest filler, the rest of the media picks up the pace and creates a frenzy. Corman's story actually does a nice job explaining the craze's creation and the subsequent test before an ecumenical body.

God helps his messenger with the test (a hilarious bit where Burns must translate 50 questions about the meaning of life from Aramaic and respond in 20th century English), but in the process, God's messenger slanders one of the members. A non-jury trial results in God Himself making a courtroom appearance. The case is eventually dismissed, and although God's messenger loses his job, he gains purpose and perspective.

Oh, What A Cast

Look for stellar performances from Ralph Bellamy as a plaintiff's attorney mocking the notion of God appearing to John Denver. His client is a Southern Baptist televangelist beautifully played against type by Italian-American character actor Paul Sorvino.

A fun, trivial moment: The District Produce Manager for Denver's store is played by David Ogden Stiers. Stiers, of course, was best known for his role as M*A*S*H's Major Winchester. This was the year that Stiers joined that famous cast when Larry Linville, portraying Major Frank Burns, made the worst blunder in the history of series television by choosing to leave M*A*S*H after only five years.

Dinah Shore appears as herself on her old talkshow set, which prompts its share of questions from younger viewers, who will also miss the significance of Reiner discussing working with Sid Caesar twenty-five years before.

George Burns, given terrific material, brought his trademark timing to the role and made it brilliant at times. Working with Denver, rather than a more experienced actor, left Burns with a vacuum to fill, and he expanded his role accordingly.

What The Movie Means To Me

This movie's 1970s debut opened my eyes because I was a know-it-all teenager. Fortunately, I was open-minded enough to ask the question Joan Osborne did a generation later: What if God was one of us?. I've since used the movie as an excuse to do the same to my own kids.

Viewers easily offended by the light-hearted look at a deity, particularly one who says "I belong to all religions" should pass this by. Still others who are in their too cool for words phase will mock me for even daring admit I like this movie.

Those of you not falling in either camp will adore the show.

Oh! God In The News

 

--G. Bounacos