DeGeneres to Star in 'Oh, God!' Remake

[Ash]

Uh oh....
It seems that Ellen DeGeneres is going to play God in the upcoming remake of "Oh God!".

Here's some info I found on ABCnews.com:

"Comedian Ellen DeGeneres is getting a promotion to supreme being. DeGeneres will star as God in a remake of the 1977 comedy "Oh, God!"
The original starred George Burns as the creator and John Denver as a supermarket manager tapped as a new prophet.

"Ellen is a strong comedian and she has always done material about God and questions about God," said Jerry Weintraub, who produced the original movie and also will oversee the remake.

Weintraub said he'll hire a screenwriter and director with the aim to shoot the movie during a break in DeGeneres' schedule from her talk show next summer.

Though successful on the small screen, DeGeneres misfired in an earlier transition to film with the romantic-comedy flop "Mr. Wrong." She helped score a hit with her voice work on last year's animated tale "Finding Nemo."

What do you think?
WHo do you think they should get to play the role John Denver played?

[loyal1]

Oh God!

-sorry, just couldn't resist. :)

[JohnL]

Does anyone really find Ellen all that funny? When her show first came on the air, I think I watched one episode of it and didn't laugh once.

[AndyC]

The original Oh God was pretty funny, but also respectful in tone. Handled the material very well. George Burns, as just about the oldest comedian still in the business (and known to three generations), was a natural for the part, and played it with a gentle humour.

Sticking a lesbian comedienne (and a relatively recent one) in the title role makes me suspect that this version is going to take a few fashionable pot shots at religion, and the humour is going to be anything but subtle. I'm pretty sure DeGeneres was picked less for her religious humour than for the possibility that her involvement will stir up controversy.

Besides, she's not movie material. She tried it, and bombed. She's a TV person all the way. This makes me even more suspicious of the motivation behind her casting.

I liked Oh God, as a movie that could laugh at religion without being disrespectful or anti-religious. I don't think anyone in Hollywood today is capable of doing it. The 70s were very different times.

This movie is going to suck.



Post Edited (08-24-04 09:21)

[AndyC]

Giving it a bit more thought, DeGeneres might have been a good choice for the Denver role. Still, too much of a TV personality. There are better choices.

Also wondering who the target of the humour is going to be. Televangelists more or less peaked in the 70s and 80s. We don't have buffoons on the scale of Ernest Angely or crooks like Jim Bakker around anymore. The guys I'm seeing on TV these days are downright dull by comparison. The original Oh God had a message of faith, while mocking the exploitation of faith for profit and personal glory. Denver, the grocery clerk, was opposed by an egotistical and influential televangelist based on real people of the day. Who will be the antagonist in this version?



Post Edited (08-24-04 09:39)

[Flangepart]

Lets not forget, she was good in FINDING NEMO, because she diden't write the material.

[raj]

Well put AndyC, in both posts.  I bet the antagonist will be a president who uses his faith to further his political ends as well as to discriminate against those not in the mainstream.
Sorry Ellen, this smells of politics and you are no George Burns.

[loyal1]

Flangepart wrote:

> Lets not forget, she was good in FINDING NEMO, because she
> diden't write the material.
>


But in that movie she played a cartoon fish with short term memory loss...here we are talking about God.  A bit different, and she could not even come close to George Burns in this role.

Good point AndyC with the politics.

[loyal1]

If you were casting this, who do you think could pull off such a feat, and would you keep it as a man, or go for the a woman to play it?

[AndyC]

Hard to say who would be right. There really is no present-day equivalent of George Burns. Bill Cosby? It's a tough question.

As for whether God should be played by a man or a woman, I don't think it should matter. However, the female God idea has become such a feminist joke that it actually becomes hard to do without looking like you're trying to thumb your nose at somebody, even if you're not. And far from being fresh and different, the idea does come off as kind of stale. It's been done, and it looks like a poor and predictable attempt to be "with it."

That said, if there is a woman who could play it like Burns, the movie could overcome this impression. But I'd want her cast because she can pull it off, not because she'll challenge traditional ideas.

[loyal1]

Someone like Judi Dench or Vanessa Redgrave.  I know Judi Dench can be hilarious in some, like when she played Lady Braknough (sp?) In The Importance of Being Ernest.

If we want a more comedian...there is respectable ones like Carol Burnett

Hmmmm, wow, why would they pick Ellen, when there really are some far better choices!

[Fearless Freep]

I agree, it should be someone who can project calm authority, dignity, and grace.  I would've said Katherine Hepburn if she was sill alive



Post Edited (08-24-04 11:16)

[loyal1]

As much as I love Katharine Hepburn, I just don't think she would have been right if still alive today for her disease/affliction just got the best of her.  Perhaps at a time when she did Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

But I think NOW, Judi Dench could do it or Vanessa Redgrave if you want more dignified than comedy.

[Fearless Freep]

I'm thinking of Hepburn in "Lion In Winter" opposite Peter O'Toole.  She could be funny and serious at the same time.

[AndyC]

Dench and Redgrave might be too classy. Part of what made Burns so good was that, in appearance, he was very much an average old man and not terribly impressive. I like Judi Dench, but she's almost too good for the role. Burnett might be an interesting choice though.

There's quite a few actresses who could play a sweet, harmless old lady, but Oh God also really needs a big name in the part, which is what makes it so difficult.

On the men side, since Bill Cosby popped into my head, I'm thinking he'd be good. Unfortunately, making God black would invite too many comparisons to Bruce Almighty.

I wonder what Pat Morita is doing these days. That would rock.



Post Edited (08-24-04 11:31)