# Dear God (1996)

### reviewed by
Brian Koller

    Dear God (1996)

    Grade: 17

"Dear God" is an alleged comedy. The film stars Greg Kinnear as a con artist brought before a judge and given the choice of work or jail. Kinnear chooses a job at the post office, serving his time in the dead letter office. There, he meets his co-workers, most of whom are eccentric. You will recognize Tim Conway and Laurie Metcalf. Conway isn't awful, but he isn't given much to work with. Metcalf is a candidate for Most Disappointing Supporting Actress.

An attempt by Kinnear to steal money and valuables from the mail to pay off bullying loan sharks somehow leads to a campaign by his postal co-workers to do good deads for troubled folks who have written letters to God. This leads to a second confrontation with a judge, for tampering with the mail. I guess God is upset when others read his mail.

This is a really bad movie. I would never have suffered through it, except that relatives actually paid money to rent it, and kept waiting forlornly for Tim Conway to be funny. Nothing in the movie is funny, which is rare even for very bad comedies. Kinnear has a love interest who doesn't care that he is a broke con artist in trouble with both the law and the mob. The film is full of scenes that make little sense, such as a downtown parade featuring five second cameos of has-been stars, and Metcalf giving a bizarre courtroom demonstration that involves dogs, chanting, and beating a trashcan like a drum.

The real con here is "Dear God" as a comedy. Garry Marshall, the Director and thus the man most responsible for this waste of videotape, has a few cameo scenes. Lock him up and throw away the key, and tell Kinnear to read the script before signing another contract.

http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html

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