When I saw the previews for “Bruce Almighty,” I have to admit, I had no desire whatsoever to see it. Images of Bruce endowed with the powers of God, such as blowing up women’s skirts and enlarging Jennifer Aniston’s breasts, gave me the impression that Hollywood had once again taken an interesting concept and utterly obliterated it.

I also feared the movie would alienate real believers with big and dumb irreverence, not to mention a simplistic take on religion.

I was wrong on all counts.

Bruce Nolan is a TV news reporter who feels God isn’t doing his job. In short, Bruce thinks he’s a pretty good guy who’s getting the shaft. At one point, Bruce says: “God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass, and I’m the ant.”

Of course, this question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” has been wrestled with from time immemorial, and has been a particularly thorny problem for religious believers throughout history whose God is all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good.

As a Christian myself, I wondered how a film with Ace Ventura in the leading role could possibly deal with this perennial theme in anything but an inane and shallow way. Further, I predicted the filmmakers, in a Herculean effort to please everyone, would drain religion of all of its supernatural elements and present some sort of vague and generic view of God.

Wrong again.

Bruce, like the biblical character Job, never doubts God’s existence, but questions the way God runs the universe. Bruce views God as the cosmic genie in the sky, whose sole end for his creation is the personal happiness of Bruce.

Bruce initially uses his powers for his own personal advancement and pleasure, but later begins to hear petitionary prayers, all of which he grants as asked. He quickly discovers (a little odd if Bruce possesses omniscience) that negative consequences follow — his personal happiness is hindered and natural disasters occur. Bruce quickly learns a lesson also learned by Job — his ignorance of the complexity of the vast cosmos. Or as God says in the movie, “Not as easy as it looks, son, this God business.”

When Bruce finally realizes only God can be God, he speaks to God as if he were responding to an altar call at a Billy Graham crusade: “You win; I don’t want to be God anymore. I want to do what you think is right for me. I surrender to your will.”

It’s this dethroning of the self and perfect surrender to God that is central to the life of Christians.

Some believers have objected to how God is presented in the movie as playful and possessing a sense of humor. It is suggested that this makes light of the seriousness of who God really is and trivializes God’s relationship to humanity.

I must respectfully disagree.

The humor God uses in the movie functions as a way to connect with Bruce on his level. God’s humor in the movie is never crass or tasteless, but seems to communicate God’s understanding and empathy for his creatures. Isn’t this a major part of what the Incarnation is all about in the Christian faith?

God tells Bruce he created him with a sense of humor, and that Bruce’s humor has brought joy and laughter to many people. God incorporates humor in how he communicates with Bruce, because humor is Bruce’s language. Seems to me a pretty accurate understanding of the purpose of humor and the source of it.

While “Bruce Almighty” will doubtlessly disappoint those who believe any depiction of God in the movies is inherently sacrilegious, as well as those on the other end of the spectrum who don’t like heavier, religious themes in their Jim Carrey comedies, the rest of us should dish out the mad props to Hollywood for “Bruce Almighty.”