Fairy Tale and Film

Bruce Almighty
(Tom Shadyac, 2003) follows 
a similar idea, reprising Jim Carey’s role in 
Liar Liar 
in terms of comic 
maturation, with a child’s wish substituted in this case with the will of 
God (Morgan Freeman). Convinced that life is against him after being 
passed over for a promotion at work, Bruce complains to God and is 
given the top job in response. Finding himself able to perform miracles, 
he misuses his power in various ways, including giving his girlfriend 
Grace (Jennifer Anniston) a secret boob job, yet becomes a changed 
man when he sees how much his behaviour upsets her. Fatally hit by 
a car, he asks God to ensure that she finds herself a good man and is 
miraculously revived. Having acquired greater humility and maturity 
he finally learns to put his relationship first and proposes to his erst-
while girlfriend, who is clearly itching for a family, and we are given 
to understand that he has finally got his priorities right. David Butler 
interestingly considers the film to be a rare modern example of the 
fi lm 
blanc
genre, a term used by Peter Valenti (1978) to describe a cycle of 
fantasy films released in the 1940s that might be seen as an antidote 
to the pessimism of 
fi lm noir
, sharing traits such as a benevolent agent 
from another world, a strong romance plot and a redemptive theme. 
As Butler argues, 
Bruce Almighty
corresponds to Valenti’s criteria and 
proves that related features are evident in contemporary cinema, par-
ticularly during an equally uncertain period of global unrest, affirming 
‘we may live in fearful times, but 
Bruce Almighty
suggests that, whether 
one describes it as a 
fi lm blanc
or supernatural comedy/romance, this 
genre does not simply disappear when the going gets tough’ (2009: 48). 
We might ask, with all this uncertainty over its categorisation, if 
Bruce 
Almighty
is best understood as a fairy tale film. After all, granting a 
flawed human divine powers (and seeing how they misuse them) is an 

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60 
Fairy Tale and Film
age-old trope that long preceded Valenti’s examples, as well as cinema 
itself, while the romantic redemptive theme is a key fairy tale motif. 
Evan Almighty
(Tom Shadyac, 2007) reworks the same premise, with 
the man that stole Bruce’s job, Evan Baxter (Steve Carrell), given a job 
by God that forces a reassessment of his priorities. Also following a simi-
lar conceit to Shadyac’s earlier film, 
Liar Liar
, a young boy’s wish comes 
true and a work-obsessed father transforms as a result. Having become 
disillusioned with his news anchor job, and turning to politics, Evan 
is a family man who never has time for his family, devoting himself 
entirely to his new career as a congressman, yet all this changes when 
his youngest son prays for the family to spend more time together, 
coinciding with Evan’s wish to change the world, and God responds 
by asking him to build an ark. Laughs come with the absurdity of the 
premise, particularly magical phenomena such as a beard that cannot 
be shaved off, biblical robes that must be worn at all times, and atten-
dant incongruity when Evan seeks to be taken seriously as a lobbyist 
while followed everywhere by beasts of the land, air and sea. The usual 
family values are asserted when his wife and sons walk out, believing he 
has lost his mind, only to return to help him in his task, his wife stating 
that, even if he is mad, he is at least with them. An overt environmen-
tal message is apparent, with God using Evan to make his unhappiness 
clear about unbridled urban development, and a flood provides an epic 
ending, enabling Evan to expose the truth in marvellous 
Mr Smith Goes 
to Washington
style. Politicians are shown to be corrupt, ruthless busi-
ness interests dominate, yet a man can make a difference in this case – 
with God on his side! 
If 
Evan Almighty
warns how easily a man can lose his family, 
17 
Again 
(Burr Steers, 2009) reiterates the same message, while interest-
ingly reworking the traditional body-switch scenario. 
Big
in reverse, the 
premise follows an unhappy man on the brink of divorce, estranged 
from his wife and children, who returns to his high school – 18 years 
after graduating – to gaze wistfully at a photo of himself. A mysterious 
janitor tempts him with the question ‘I bet you wish you had it to do 
all over again’ and before the night is out Mike O’Donnell (Zac Efron) 
is back to his old self. A former baseball star at high school, who missed 
out on a college scholarship when he got his girlfriend pregnant, he has 
spent the last two decades regretting the path his life has taken and now 
has the opportunity to take the chance he missed. His nerdy best friend, 
Ned Gold (Thomas Lennon), identifies the scenario as ‘basic spirit guide 
transformation magic’, yet the pair disagree over the path he’s intended 
to take. Admitting that his desire to return to high school is selfish, yet 

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Transformations and Male Maturation 
61
retorting, ‘I have not done anything for me since 1989,’ Mike eventually 
realises his true purpose is to be a good father, ‘it’s not about basketball, 
it’s about helping Alex and Maggie’. This means enduring the horrors 
of high school to help his son make it onto the basketball team, and 
endeavouring to give his daughter some self-esteem. He also realises 
how unfair he has been to his wife all these years, blaming her for his 
failures, and resolves to make it up to her. Finding himself at the very 
same turning point as he was two decades earlier, with a college scout 
watching him play and a potential scholarship again in the offing, 
the mysterious janitor returns him to middle-aged form the moment 
he walks out on the game – once again opting to prioritise his wife. As 
he tells her, ‘I thought I wanted a second chance at life, but now I know 
I wanted a second chance with you.’ This being a wish-fulfilment fan-
tasy, the pair are happily reunited, our hero having learned to cherish 
what matters most. 
What is especially endearing about Mike is that he is sold as the perfect