Oh God was never supposed to be a religious or pro Christian movie, but it worked because George Burns was perfectly cast in the role of the Almighty and it had a great message sandwiched in between all of its jokes and humorous situations.
Oh God Book II came along three years later and it was a basic rehash of the first film with a little girl as Gods messenger instead of John Denver's character from the original. Sure it was a rehash but it had such a nice innocent charm about it as well as touching scenes between Burns as God and the girl that it was a perfectly adequate, enjoyable sequel.
Third time was not a charm for this series four years later with Oh God You Devil. While it was always a welcome presence to see the great Burns still working up until shortly before his death in 1996, this film went in a very different direction than its predecessors. Sometimes that can work but this time it didnt.
The reason why is because the joke here is Burns is God and the Devil. But this is really the Devil's movie. God is in this maybe 10 minutes tops.
The idea could have worked a whole lot better if time were equally devoted to Burns playing both roles and contrasting both characters who are fighting over the soul of a failing musician played by Ted Wass.
And although Wass tries his best he just doesnt have the same likeability that Denver demonstrated in the first outing, nor any of the sweet innocence that the little girl did in Book II.
Also Burns portrays the image of a sweet wise old man which works perfect for playing God but he also transfers that into playing the Devil and it just doesnt work.
It's a sequel that had a good idea and potential but we needed more of George Burns as God. We fell in love with him as that character in the first two movies so why would we want to see less of it the third time? Just totally defeats the purpose of this otherwise delightful film series.
Oh God Book II came along three years later and it was a basic rehash of the first film with a little girl as Gods messenger instead of John Denver's character from the original. Sure it was a rehash but it had such a nice innocent charm about it as well as touching scenes between Burns as God and the girl that it was a perfectly adequate, enjoyable sequel.
Third time was not a charm for this series four years later with Oh God You Devil. While it was always a welcome presence to see the great Burns still working up until shortly before his death in 1996, this film went in a very different direction than its predecessors. Sometimes that can work but this time it didnt.
The reason why is because the joke here is Burns is God and the Devil. But this is really the Devil's movie. God is in this maybe 10 minutes tops.
The idea could have worked a whole lot better if time were equally devoted to Burns playing both roles and contrasting both characters who are fighting over the soul of a failing musician played by Ted Wass.
And although Wass tries his best he just doesnt have the same likeability that Denver demonstrated in the first outing, nor any of the sweet innocence that the little girl did in Book II.
Also Burns portrays the image of a sweet wise old man which works perfect for playing God but he also transfers that into playing the Devil and it just doesnt work.
It's a sequel that had a good idea and potential but we needed more of George Burns as God. We fell in love with him as that character in the first two movies so why would we want to see less of it the third time? Just totally defeats the purpose of this otherwise delightful film series.