Another Look: Oh God! is a slice of Heaven (*****)

Oh God! (1977)

Director Carl Reiner
Screenplay Larry Gelbart
Starring George Burns, John Denver, Teri Garr, Paul Sorvino, William Daniels, Donald Pleasance, Dinah Shore, Carl Reiner, David Odgen Stiers, Ralph Bellamy, Barnard Hughes

“So help Me, Me,” George Burns intones. He speaks gently and confidently as he approaches the witness stand for Jerry Landers (Denver).

Landers, the most precise definition of a mild mannered Assistant Manager at a supermarket, is on trial for slander. In short, he took the word of God (Burns, in a career topping role) and passed it along.

John Denver is perfectly cast as Landers. He is a man who loves his wife Bobbie (Garr) and loves his job. He doesn’t think that much about God. Even if he is good, through and though. Music stars didn’t get much bigger at this time. However, he discards anything reminiscent of his popularity. He sinks deep into the role of the everyman.

The story starts innocently enough, with Landers going through the mail with Bobbie at the end of a good day. He gets a letter inviting him to an interview with God the next day. Figuring it as a joke, he discards it. The letter keeps coming back. So he entertains the interview.

Reiner, normally a comedy director, handles things in a relatively straightforward manner. This allows Denver to breathe without pressure of being more than a straight man. Burns, the consummate comedy professional, has the chops to get laughs and still show a gentle loving authority. The casting for both is a stroke of genius.

Gelbart’s script also flows incredibly well. There is no overload of sentiment and no desperate attempt at cheap laughs or thrills. The film feels like an easy walk through the Garden of Eden, before shame was brought into the world.

The addition of Teri Garr is like a cherry on top of the best dessert. It would be hard to lack faith with one of the best comic actresses as one’s wife.

The rest of the supporting cast is incredibly solid. So many well regarded character actors used in an economical fashion. Oh God! is a film that should easily be indulgent, but instead gives us only a well portioned slice of Heaven.

(***** out of *****)