Oh, God!

A comedy set in California. Jerry Landers is an assistant manager at a supermarket. He leads an ordinary life with his wife and two children. One day he finds a letter in his post box. An invitation to a meeting. The sender is God. Jerry takes it for a joke. He goes to the address anyway. He hears a voice in an empty office. Then God appears. An old man; a cap, a shirt, and he makes jokes. He wants something from him. A message is to be delivered. The message is simple: the world is workable, and people are obliged to look after each other. Jerry does not want to deliver it. Nobody will believe him. He is pressed. From there the film is a story of persuasion. Jerry goes to the newspapers, appears on television, and is humiliated. His wife does not believe him. His job is at risk. His children are mocked at school. The clergy are unsettled. A group of theologians examines him. The questions are written in Aramaic. Jerry writes the answers and does not know how. The narrative does not present it as a miracle. There is a television preacher as well. He collects money and God sends him a particular criticism. The preacher sues Jerry. The last section takes place in a courtroom. What the narrative is interested in is not faith but proof: its idea is that everyone wants a sign, and that even when the sign is given nobody believes. The tone is light. The narrative takes direct aim at no religious institution and keeps the argument personal. George Burns plays God. He was in his eighties and plays it with an entirely dry humour. John Denver was a singer and this is his first film part. The screenplay is by Larry Gelbart and was nominated for the adapted screenplay Oscar. Carl Reiner directed. George Burns, John Denver, Teri Garr and Ralph Bellamy are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1970s American comedy and quiet humour. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a sharp edge; the narrative risks nothing and its ending is tied too neatly.