Bruce Almighty

First off: the deleted scenes. These come with an optional director's commentary and Tom Shadyac is often laugh-out-loud funny, just like the movie. There is over half an hour of content here, mostly scenes that would have slowed the film down. However, there are some very funny moments, such as an extended scene of Bruce being given omnipotence from the Almighty, which leads him to say, "Jesus Chri..." and slap his hand across his mouth in shame. Also, look out for the extended newsroom scene and Bruce's encounter with Bigfoot. Beware though, to enjoy the comedy, you do have to wade through a fair amount of the more pointless scenes.

Shadyac's commentary is informative and energetic and he is often quite subtle in his delivery of Carrey-esque humour, which gives the commentary a witty edge that you won't find on many other DVDs. You sense that Shadyac has a genuine love for his work and he gets personal with the audience, which connects you to him, so that you care about what he's saying. Because he enjoys his work so much, he loves his actors also, and often breaks from anecdotes to raves about the numerous talents of some extra, who never even made it to the final cut.

The featurette is focussed around Jim Carrey and his "method," which appears as Shadyac's homage to the actor, who helped build his career (Pet Detective, Liar Liar). It is also a stage upon which to present even more deleted scenes, most of which are not as side-splitting as you would expect, although you are given a brief insight into how a comedy is made.

The outtakes, quoted as being "hilarious" on the box, are not as funny as the deleted scenes and, since this is a film with so much improvisation, it is hard to set apart the outtakes from the actual film. Still, you get to see the actors laughing about their own jokes, which is always great fun... right?

The animated menus are a little long for my liking, but they don't hinder the enjoyment you get from this package. Certainly worth the £10 I paid for it in the WH Smith sale, and this one will be in and out of the bargain bin for years to come, so keep an eye out, because although it's not heavenly, it's enough to brighten even the coldest of days.