THE MAN WHO SUED GOD

Director Mark Joffe, certificate 15, general release

Jeremy Fleming

This is an Australian film about a fisherman, Steve Myers, whose boat is struck by lightning and destroyed.

The insurers claim - not unreasonably - it is an act of God, but Steve, played by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, decides to sue the representatives of religious faiths in Australia.

Myers is a former lawyer who has decided to turn his back on the law to catch lobsters, so he has some idea where to start, and his brother is a big bad corporate lawyer in Sydney.

The first part of the film is quite funny, containing some good slapstick with Connolly playing Myers as a clumsy drunk who cannot deal with the real world.

Then Myers meets Anna Redmond, an investigative reporter and all-round bleeding heart who takes up his cause, teaching him the ways of the media.

The second half of the film is the courtroom drama in which Myers pitches himself against a bruising lawyer appointed by the different faiths.

This is where the film goes off the rails.

The precept that a claim form served on the churches would have even made it past the rubbish bin let alone become an international cause clbre is absurd in a not-so-funny kind of way.

Then there are all the little ironies such as how the faiths will have to prove that God does not exist in order to win the case, which try and be clever and funny but are just clumsy and predictable.

The end descends into shocking farce, with a little courtroom miracle performed by a white dove smashing through the windows.

It is nicely filmed - Australia always looks good on film - and the actors turn in a good enough performance.

But the fundamental problem is that people do not go on public protest marches about force majeure clauses and they never will.

Insurance contracts have 'Act of God' clauses in them, big deal - get over it.