Oh, God! (1977)

Directed by Carl Reiner. Starring John Denver, George Burns, Teri Garr, Paul Sorvino, William Daniels, Ralph Bellamy, Barnard Hughes, Donald Pleasence, Barry Sullivan, George Furth. [PG]

A mild-mannered assistant manager for a supermarket (Denver) is contacted by the voice of God and selected to bring His message to the masses; Denver, of course, is highly dubious, even when God finally materializes as a tiny, old man who looks suspiciously like a casually-attired George Burns, but it’s a lot easier for God to convince Denver than it is for Denver to convince the world (or even just a small part of it). Disappointingly safe and flat comedy, a blithe satire that has a handful of amusing and philosophical moments, but is too afraid of offending audience members to probe the subject deeply or critically, saving its claws for easier targets like charlatan preachers, such as the one played by Sorvino (in a decidedly un-Sorvino-like performance). Burns’ charmingly droll deadpan is enjoyable, but the casting of musician Denver (who had previously only done a little bit of TV acting) in the lead part is a head-scratching mistake—he’s not bad, per se, but he’s asked to do things in his role that he simply lacks the experience and basic thespian chops for. Dinah Shore appears as herself, and Reiner cameos as one of the guests on her show; David Ogden Stiers also has a small role.

49/100