The comedy made almost twice as much money as “Matrix Reloaded” last weekend.
By Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

Jim Carrey’s prayers have been answered.

The rubber-faced actor is back on top now that his comedy “Bruce Almighty,” about a TV newsman who is granted divine powers, made almost twice as much money as “The Matrix Reloaded” over the long Memorial Day weekend.

The movie’s unexpected $86 million haul over four days effectively erases the failure of Carrey’s last big movie, “The Majestic,” which couldn’t even wheeze its way to $30 million during its entire 2001 run.

Hollywood, so quick to turn its back on anyone having a bad year, had just about written Carrey off and forgotten how recently it had been touting him as the “new Robin Williams.”

In a single, significant weekend, all that has changed.

For one thing, “Bruce Almighty” took on the “Matrix” sequel, which had been widely expected to be the 800-pound gorilla of the summer. But “Matrix 2” earned $45.6 million, a dropoff in business of nearly 60 percent from last weekend, which further indicates that it is unlikely to see the kind of repeat business that is so essential to making movie history,

Even if it never earned another dime, “Bruce” is already millions ahead of Carrey’s 1994 hit “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” and it will undoubtedly surpass “The Mask” and “Dumb and Dumber” (both also released in “94).

The No. 1 spot for the Memorial Day weekend is a needed boost for Carrey, who was considered infallible when he was tapped in 1995 to play The Riddler in “Batman Forever,” and continued his winning streak with “Liar Liar,” “The Truman Show” and, with $260 million to its credit, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

The success of the “Matrix” movies does not depend on Keanu Reeves alone, because fans are also attracted to the movie’s philosophical symbolism and to its take on virtual reality.

However, the success of “Bruce Almighty” is inextricably linked to the appeal of Carrey. Trailers have played up the movie’s more sophomoric jokes, like a dog that is taught to relieve himself in a more fastidious fashion, and the way Bruce uses his lordly powers to enhance his girlfriend’s physique.

But those jokes in themselves would not account for making it the second-best Memorial Day weekend opening of all time, after 1997’s “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.” Now Carrey can feel something like the fictional Bruce – he has plenty of power and limitless opportunities.

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(c) 2003, New York Daily News.

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AP-NY-05-29-03 0942EDT

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