The Man Who Sued God
by Doug Hodgkinson
Directed by; Mark Joffe, Starring: Billy Connolly (Max Myers), Judy Davis (Anna Redmond), 98 minutes
This is a rollicking Australian comedy (don’t be mislead by Connolly’s broad Scots accent) with a quite serious religious message.
Max used to be a lawyer but he has given that all up to be an unsuccessful fisherman. He lives on his boat but in close proximity to his ex-wife and her new partner. Max’s daughter Rebecca, the light of his life, lives with her mother but they are all very much entwined in each other’s lives. One day as Max is bringing a meagre catch of lobster into port a storm blows up suddenly and lightning strikes his boat. It is shattered and goes to the bottom. Not to worry; Max has comprehensive insurance. Or does he? It turns out the insurance company considers it an “act of God” and won’t pay a cent.
This infuriates Max who reregisters as a lawyer and sues God, although not directly. That would be silly, wouldn’t it? He sues God’s agents on earth, religious institutions and their representatives; the Anglican Primate, the R.C. Cardinal, the rabbi, the Presbyterian Moderator who all hire a very slick and prestigious lawyer. Max meanwhile has met Anna Redmond, a reporter who assumes the role of media director in his campaign. (Their meeting in a restaurant is much funnier than the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in When Harry Met Sally.) Many people who think insurance companies have cheated them undertake a class action suit.
In an interview with the insurance company Max is told “an act of God” is “a standard legal fiction for things that aren’t predictable”. Max asks “Now why would you need insurance if life were predictable? Besides “act of God” doesn’t define what acts of God are!”
The churches have a dilemma because they have hired a very powerful lawyer in effect to prove in court that God is a commonly accepted, though ill defined, legal fiction that we don’t really need anymore because we have science now and it can predict the weather. It is a delightful ironic-comedy that turns on a misunderstanding that exposes the critical question of our age; does the term “God” stand for something; does that God act in some unambiguous way or is it all a “legal fiction”; God of the gaps, (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)?
Along the way, Max is offered a settlement for more money than he needs to replace his boat. It is offered on the assumption that he and Anna are working some kind of scam and that the money will make it all go away. They are outraged and after many personal attacks decide on a “moral victory” as the way to go.
While religious institutions take their lumps along with the insurance industry and lawyers it is the cardinal of Australia who responds with an apologia that is ultimately adopted by Max and Anna. Enjoy this very funny comedy for its sight gags and smart repartee but enjoy it more for its post modern question about God; one that may well be on your lips as well but certainly it is on those of your children or grandchildren.
