Dear God (1996) User Reviews (43)

Watch Tim Conway.

[rkhen · 5/10 · 20 August 2021]

Everyone's already hit the main points in the other reviews. I wanted to add that this is a movie with a lot of heart and high ambitions, that it doesn't quite achieve. Although it has likable characters and the zaniness is fun, the premises are trite and the script stretches credibility to the breaking point. In the end I decided to receive it on the "dumb but fun" channel, rather than turn it off, and made it through.

Someone else here said, "I didn't hate it, I just didn't like it." That about sums up my feelings, too.

But I wanted to leave a review to draw attention to Tim Conway's incredible performance. I'm not a giant fan of Conway's trademark burlesque, which worked wonders on Carol Burnett but is out of place in anything that's not an ensemble variety show (i.e., vaudeville). But here he's absolutely brilliant, playing a comedy archetype that is not however over the top. He sold the character with complexity and palpable sincerity and proved that he could in fact act, in the full sense of the word.

Watch this movie for him. I'm glad I did. I wish we could have seen him in many other such roles. Such a missed opportunity.

Starts awfully, then improves measurably

[Vance-11 · 5/10 · 27 January 2000]

"Dear God" is the rare example of a movie that starts abysmally but slowly gains its stride. Most films these days are the opposite. They grab you right off, then run out of steam. To be fair, "Dear God" never fully grabs you or has much steam. But it gets to the point where it becomes worth watching, eliciting several pleased chuckles, while still falling far short of out-and-out funny.

Greg Kinnear plays a two-bit hustler whose honest face and convincing stories allow him to con working joes out of their money. He has a gambling debt to repay to Junior, an overweight thug who teaches him a lesson or two about horses and stables at a disastrous visit to the track. Kinnear's Tom Turner is arrested while trying to scam two undercover cops disguised as foreign sight-seers, and in a ridiculous plot convenience, is sentenced to find a paying job for one year. Most criminals should be so lucky. But of course, Turner has that honest face.

Anyway, he ends up at the post office, where he's assigned to a dead letter office filled with whacko postal cast-offs, played with sufficient nuttiness by Laurie Metcalf, Jon Seda and Tim Conway, among others. Conway's character once memorized the entire layout of the city of L.A., but was demoted when he lost it and bit a dog. Metcalf plays a former lawyer who needed a "less stressful" job. You get the idea.

Through a series of accidents, this motley crew begins answering letters to God, and, through their limited means, they begin making minor miracles happen throughout L.A. The press picks up on it, which draws the attention of the U.S. Postmaster General (played with his usual rabid energy by the director, Garry Marshall), and brings heat on the do-gooder crew, whose activities are technically illegal. (Opening the mail is a federal offense). Meanwhile, Kinnear's Turner remains on the run from the gangsters and tries to woo a single mother played by the adorable Maria Pitillo, whose character has no function in this film other than as a weak romantic interest.

Extraordinarily lame-brained from the get-go, "Dear God" actually gets on course, as the relative uniqueness of its storyline manifests itself in some sweet, quiet moments, and as the ensemble group of veteran actors really begins to relish their roles. Metcalf is always funny, although she's a little over the top here, and Kinnear is notable for his ability to play a likeable everyman. Conway has a very-funny apology scene with a dog and is otherwise likeable in his eccentricity.

The movie ultimately only reaches the level of so-so -- but I guess the fact that I felt compelled to write about it means that it made some impact on me, and that I can marginally recommend it. 5 out 10.

Eh.....

[tabu323 · 4/10 · 23 August 2006]

I wish there was a rating between "Liked it" and "Didn't Like It". Because although I didn't DISlike this movie, I can't actually say I LIKED it either. Very lame and weak in a lot of places - Tim Conway gives a GREAT performance as the burned out postal worker. The other performances are just adequate, and that's being kind. I am big fan of Laurie Metcalfe, but this is not a shining moment for her. Ellen Cleghorn's attempt at an accent fails miserably, and Greg Kinnear is not believable as a bad guy. The premise of the story is cute.....but the story sputters to it's predictable ending...and takes too long to get there.

soup for soul

[Kirpianuscus · 11 May 2016]

a film who reminds Frank Capra's films. the atmosphere, the lead character, the theme. sure, not at the same high and subtle level but more than a decent work. film about self redefinition, using in inspired manner the charm of Greg Kinnear, proposing nice characters and a seductive mixture of humor and drama, remembering that small things who defines every day life, being, in fact, a film about importance of community, it is a kind of soup for soul, without high ambitions but amusing and useful as lesson of life. preserving the mark of Christmas' spirit, the old formula of she and he who, after struggles, discover the real love, it could be the best option for a comfortable evening after a long work day.

Most appropriate title ever

[zetes · 1/10 · 30 April 2001]

More thought should have gone into the title for this film. They had to have known it was awful when they were making it. I saw it because I was a fan of Kinnear's from his Talk Soup days. It is absolutely worthless, though, other than one transcendent moment: Rue McClanahan, Blanche from the Golden Girls, is going blind, and her son, Kinnear, makes her feel Coolio's face as a joke. It's not funny. It's just bizarre. 1/10

One of the best Christmas movies in recent years!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 27 May 2001]

I just love this movie. It is funny and heartwarming. It has a happy ending. Laurie Metcalf is unforgettable along with a stellar cast. It may not be the best movie but it is fun to watch and enjoy. Tim Conway is unbelievable as a burned out postman. Laurie Metcalf as a burned out lawyer. Greg Kinnear who joins this zany group of people who are ordinary and do something to make themselves extraordinary people. It gives you a warm feeling by the end of the movie. Please rent or buy this movie. It's fun for the whole family. I love watching Rue McClanahan and Jack Klugman. The story might be flawed but it's always worth watching especially around the holidays when you need a little cheering up to do. Greg Kinnear is a good actor who is working at being a good film actor.

A Bit Sappy

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 29 June 2016]

When letters written to God start getting results, and replies, people everywhere are amazed. The Post Office, however, is annoyed.

Siskel & Ebert gave the film two thumbs down upon its release. James Berardinelli gave the film one star and explained, "At least after seeing this movie, I understand where the title came from – starting about thirty minutes into this interminable, unfunny feature, I began looking at my watch every few minutes and thinking, 'Dear God, is this ever going to end?'" I have to agree, and maybe I'm being a little generous with my 5. This is probably closer to a 4, because it really isn't very funny, and as one person so aptly said, it "drowns in its own sentimentality". I suppose the bonus point will be for having David Hasselhoff and Elvira show up, even if only for a second. Tony Danza, as well. But if I ever see this movie again (I hope not), it will probably lose a star.

Funny With A Message

[kcterrell-25046 · 6/10 · 23 January 2022]

I found this film to be delightfully funny. A con artist relegated to the dead letter office in the postal service begins answering letters addressed to God. A few jerks of the heart coupled with good writing and Tim Conway in a rare not over-the-top role. But there lies a message inside all the laughs: a moral dilemma is rarely a true dilemma. It's a matter of having the courage to do the right thing despite the possible consequences. The film moves right along and hardly seemed like two hours. All in all a fine little comedy.

Saccharine and unbelievable

[conspracy-2 · 3/10 · 22 May 2000]

I can be positive. Look at me: Greg Kinnear (of 'As good as it gets' fame) tries his best in this movie. He says his lines with such conviction, it's almost sad. Laurie Metcalf is as good as she always is as the neurotic lawyer-cum-postal worker Rebecca. Greg Kinnear's character, Tom Turner is...is...heck, I've run out of positive stuff.

I'm sorry. It's just that this movie tries to tackle a subject matter far bigger than itself. And it does it, well, badly. Let me walk you through it:

Tom Turner is some professional scam artist, who has a gambling debt. He is conning poor innocents out of their cash, until he gets busted by completely unbelievable undercover police officers more trigger-happy than Dirty Harry. He gets the completely unbelievable court order: go to jail, or get a 9-5 job for a year. He gets a job through two completely unbelievable happenings, involving his cousin being the policeman dragging him out of a post office cue (presumably for noticing the deadly secret of the post office: that even though there are huge lines in the post office, there is one register open with nobody using it, which Tom just walks up to).

He gets a completely unbelievable job in the 'Dead Letters Office', which is a huge messy office, filled to the brim with letters, with 5-6 full-time workers. These work on the mail that has been adressed wrong so it can't be sent on. We're supposed to believe that there are so many sloppy letter senders? Oh, never mind.

Tom discovers a place with a lot of left over jewellery, sent nowhere, and he pockets it ALL, even though he's been told he's watched. Sadly, he's rumbled, so he puts it ALL into a FedEx package and mails it. Not to himself, oh no, but to some random adress he found on a letter to God. You know, for a professional conman, he's pretty stupid. The only guy more stupid than him is the mail sorter that doesn't notice a fully grown man sliding down his mail chute one foot away from him. Watch the movie, you'll. No, on second thoughts, don't.

So, inevetably, they start reading letters from God and want to help the people themselves. Tom totally forgets his character AND his gambling debts and starts acting...you guessed it...completely unbelievable. In one particularly completely unbelievable scene, they save an old man from walking into the ocean on a crowded beach. Ah yes. That's the most efficient way to kill yourself, isn't it. Anyway, they fish him out (he's completely dry), and he gripes a bit, and then that bit goes absolutely nowhere. They build to this moment for 20 minutes, and then it fizzles. Bah.

It escalates, as it would do, and it ends with Tom being a bigger man, and we all learned a big lesson about helping others. No, wait. Sorry. It ends with a ludicrous, out-of-place courtroom sequence, where two dogs are interviewed for no reason. It's a roller-coaster. Avoid it like the plague.

The short review: This movie was boring. I picked up my guitar after seeing the Sylvia Plath part and practised playing "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder as badly as I could. I don't know why; this movie just made me want to....

A decent Christmas film with a good message but a bit too much antics

[OneAnjel · 6/10 · 18 December 2021]

What do you get when you watch a 1996 PG film in 2021? An ambitious story with poorly contrived scenarios and over the top silly antics with a feel-good ending. It was a time when American society lived in a bubble and the film's idea of what a Dear God letter might ask for were mostly trivial, where even the more profound requests were turned into some kind of schlapshtick (Trivia: no longer in the dictionaries but it's not actually spelled slapstick originally; Schlap is German meaning to laugh so hard you fall apart, & shtick is a kind of comedy delivery). But in their effort to make it a PG film, we can understand why there wasn't anything too deep or too emoted. But being a PG film, it does make you wonder if you want your kids exposed to the con man situations such as fake bandages on the hands to trick someone into providing cab fare. It does have a good message so I give it 6 stars. But I'm not really sure it's a good family film and yet it's almost too trivial and contrived for adults to enjoy. But it's probably far better than what most kids watch today with zero supervision.

Oh lord

[machme · 2/10 · 18 September 1999]

Greg Kinnear is one of my favorite actors ever, so I figured, this movie must be good. I rented it expecting it to be a sweet, lighthearted comedy. Let me just say that I could not even finish watching it, it was so bad. It was the first time I have ever turned off a movie in the middle. I was extremely disappointed. The premise was cute, and it could have been a decent film, I think, but the script was just too cheesy, not to mention that Greg Kinnear was absolutely miscast as a heartless con. He just looks too much like a nice guy, and I found it far to difficult to believe that he was cynical and cruel (even if he does change later). It's a shame, but this film was terrible.

Delightful comedy -- a fresh breeze to typical violent, sarcastic Hollywood movie making

[bhcpc · 8/10 · 19 April 2003]

"Dear God" is a movie the whole family can enjoy. Despite a predictable plot and an ending anyone can spot a mile away, the overall ensemble acting and dialogue are surprisingly fresh and sometimes poignant. The conversion of Tom from a conniving con who thought of every angle to profit himself to a do-gooder is gradual and quite convincing, avoiding a common pitfall of many feel-good movies. Jaded cynics may sneer at the religious tone, but it is actually not about any religion but about the uplifting experience one can gain by helping each other.

The cast of Kinnear, Metcalf, Pitillo mixed with old pros like Conway, Elizondo and Browne really deliver. Conway is especially enjoyable, a scene stealer up to his old tricks, and Metcalf is deliriously wacky. A special mention goes to the director, Gary Marshall, using subtle yet funny touch to parody the American media and court system. Overall, this movie is very delightful for everyone who is not a total cynic. Rating: 8/10.

Dear Kinnear.

[anaconda-40658 · 6/10 · 30 December 2015]

Dear God (1996): Dir: Garry Marshall / Cast: Greg Kinnear, Laurie Metcalf, Hector Elizondo, Maria Pitillo, Tim Conway: All Christians know that God answers prayer. In Dear God we learn that he answers mail too. Or at least he uses others to do so. It is a comedy about God's power through prayer with fraud Greg Kinnear arrested and given opportunity to hold a job. A job at the postal outlet is pretty routine until Laurie Metcalf and himself address these strange letters to God. They answer the letters thus rendering life more pleasant for others but Kinnear is arrested and taken to court, which results in a totally contrived conclusion. Director Garry Marshall brings an ominous appeal to the mail room but isn't backed with a screenplay worthy of the subject matter. He previously made Pretty Woman, another film about second chances. Kinnear is well cast and likable throughout his dilemma but he was funnier as a con man. Metcalf takes a rather standard role and provides comic relief particularly when she represents Kinnear in court. Hector Elizondo is unreadable as his boss. He seems to disappear in a half wit manner as if to suggest he is God. Maria Pitillo also appears although her role is cardboard. Could have been better yet sustains some charming moments. Theme of reaching out to others may appeal to those who experienced answered prayer. Score: 6 / 10

Dull and disappointing

[Tito-8 · 3/10 · 19 April 1999]

This film had an interesting premise, but that is the only superlative that I have to describe this movie. The solid cast basically just stands around and does nothing interesting...and they do this for almost two hours. What exactly was supposed to be funny here? And why were people like Kinnear, Metcalf, Conway, and Elizondo involved in this project? These great talents were pitifully wasted. Considering the people who worked on this film, this was definitely a big disappointment.

Nice story but it drowns in it's own sentimentality

[bob the moo · 4 January 2002]

Tom Turner is a small time con-man making a living off passengers at train stations etc. When he is caught and sent to trial he is sentenced to jail time or to get a full time job and earn his own money. He gets a job in the dead letter office at the post office where undeliverable letters are sorted by category. When trying to steal valuables to help pay off his gambling debts he accidentally puts them in a envelope in reply to a "Dear God" letter. When the money helps some people to fix problems with their block of flats and improve security his colleagues think he did it on purpose and begin to answer some other "Dear God" letters. However how far can they go without being discovered as the media begin to pick up on the miracles.

This is a very gentle comedy that struggles with being overly sentimental in the second half. The story is quite unlikely but the film is gentle enough that the slight plot is not really a major problem. Nor is it very unlikely - you won't be surprised to learn that every learns important lessons about life at the end. The comedy is also very slight, it has some laugh out loud moments but outside of this it also has an overall funny feel to the film that is quite nice.

Greg Kinnear is not a leading man, but he does a reasonably good job here. Out of his colleagues Metcalf is good and John Seda (of Homicide:LOTS) gives a different performance! The cast is also fleshed out by some nice cameos from Larry Miller and Jack Klugman (better known as Quincy). Elizondo has the best small role as the Post Officer manager who slips quietly away mid-conversation unnoticed.

Overall a gentle comedy that eventually gets bogged down by being too sentimental. It really could have benefited from having a more cynical edge.

I thought it was a made-for-TV-movie.

[desveaux · 1/10 · 5 May 2005]

A throw-a-away script & actors sleep walking through it, too. Silly, silly, silly for children, maybe?! Human being with minds, please stay away. Stupid, stupid & more stupid. Insipid, insipid, insipid. No tension, no surprises, no logic, no wonder you haven't heard of it! No ideas. No humor, "no nothing." No good. Not funny, not fun, not cool. I was forced to watch this by my "friend" at work; gee, thanks! Got it in the bargain basement bin; gee, I wonder why? "Great flick," hun?? Why not use your time wisely, like read, walk or walk into walks instead? I'd rather walk off into the ocean, than watch this again. Sorry; just trying to meet the length guidelines!

Decent

[SanteeFats · 7/10 · 17 August 2013]

Greg Kinnear plays a compulsive gambler who is in debt to a loan shark. He must get a job after appearing in court and getting offered a choice between going to jail and getting that job. He winds up at the Post Office for the Christmas period and when he inadvertently opens up a letter to God. For some reason he decides to answer it with some jewelry he steals from the Post Office dead letter files. When he sends his cashed paycheck along it is an accident and he chases it but can't get it. The rest of the dead letter staff gets the spirit and things keep giving. There are several well known actors in this movie and they do an excellent job. Tim Conway, Laurie Metcalf, Hector Elizondo (although it is a reach to see a Hispanic having to portray what I guess is suppose to be a Russian accent), and Roscoe Lee Brown. When Brown gets pinched for giving a horn to a bum musician he gets grabbed by the Feds. Greg comes forward and says he did it all. At trial the whole gang comes forth and states they are the leader. Of course all ends well for the good guys.

Why can't we give a film zero?

[categreen2000 · 1/10 · 29 March 2003]

Wow. Sometimes you go into the cinema or turn on the TV and, two hours or so later, you realize that you've just seen one of the finest films ever made; the sheer joy of that experience stays with you for days. Films like LORD OF THE RINGS, SEVEN SAMURAI, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.

This film manages to produce the opposite reaction however. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst movie I have ever seen. Worse than the last entries in POLICE ACADEMY. Worse than MISSION TO MARS. Worse even than BATTLEFIELD EARTH. It is cloyingly horrible, with appalling performances and an even more terrible script and story -- I felt my brain rotting as I watched it.

The only explanation I can give for the IMDb rating of 4.9 (including 40 people who gave it 10/10 and an average vote in the US of 5.2!) is that, a la VIDEODROME, there must be usually some kind of signal broadcast with this film that removes all critical abilities (fortunately they seem to have forgotten to flick the right switch the time I saw it). Either that or everyone who has given it a high vote has been home-schooled and this is the most exciting film they've ever been allowed to watch as it features a modern-day criminal rather than just biblical characters....

An angel's gonna find you someday."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 5 April 2014]

Well it's no "Miracle on 34th Street", but this is an entertaining enough flick that has it's humorous moments. I mention that classic film because I felt it was heading to a similar resolution, but that would have been too blatant a rip-off. Greg Kinnear turns out to be a likable con-man once he answers a 'Dear God' letter and accidentally inserts some cash in an envelope, thereby brightening up someone's day. Thereafter he's joined by a disparate cast of fellow employees who want to get in on the feel-good feeling of being regular people doing their own brand of miracles. Laurie Metcalf is a trip as the frazzled ex-lawyer who winds up having her day in court, and I got a kick out of Tim Conway doing one of his best Carol Burnett show gimmicks as a clueless mail sorter. Also a hoot were the dead letter bins labeled for such ephemeral entities as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny - and wouldn't you know it, even Elvis! Which all goes to show that you can go postal without actually going postal.

Falls down after promising start

[SKG-2 · 5/10 · 29 March 1999]

Whatever happened to Garry Marshall? The beginning of the decade saw two entertaining movies from him, PRETTY WOMAN (which would have been even better if someone else besides Richard Gere was in the lead) and FRANKIE AND JOHNNY. But then came EXIT TO EDEN, which was absolute dreck, and then this film. Admittedly, it starts out promisingly, with the various cons Greg Kinnear pulls being funny. But attempts to make a Frank Capra style movie misfire, as they almost always do; you need the right touch to do that, and almost none of the filmmakers today can resist being too saccharine. And what was Laurie Metcalf thinking? She plays a co-worker of Kinnear's who is neurotic to the point of unbelievable. She's most famous for playing Roseanne's sister on ROSEANNE, but while that character was neurotic, there was a lot more to her than that, and we understood why. Here, it's just schtick. About the only one who stays funny here is Tim Conway, but he can't help here.

Who bankrolls this swill?

[inkslave · 2/10 · 8 June 2003]

You have to assume there came a moment when the director saw a cut of this film and said, I have wasted the last year of my life. Yeech! How does trash like this get made and distributed? Didn't they know, couldn't they tell from watching people wander through the wretched scenes that make up this turkey?

Dear God, thanks for this funny and uplifting movie!

[inkblot11 · 8/10 · 7 April 2005]

Tom (Greg Kinnear) is a petty conman who poses as a burn victim (among other things) to elicit money from innocent bystanders. He has quite a reputation around town so law enforcement goes to some length to catch him in the act. Brought in front of a judge, she decrees that he will get a real job or end up in the pokey. So, a job it is for him. Tom has his eye on a pretty lady named Gloria, anyway, so it might help his image with her, too. Strings are pulled to get him into the postal service's dead letter office. Once there, surrounded by kind and interesting people, he begins to turn his life around. He even reads some of the letters addressed to God and performs random acts of kindness. What could be wrong with that? This movie leaves the viewer with feelings of great joy. Kinnear is a charmer, in every way, and with cast members such as Maria Pitillo, Tim Conway, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Hector Elizondo, he is in great company. The script has a buoyant message to give about helping others, only to receive kindness back in return. How nice the settings and costumes are, too. A love story develops quietly for any viewer who longs for comedies with romance. This film is recommended for individuals or families who need their faith restored in humanity, but who also enjoy laughter and nonsense along the way.

Superficial Christmas TV fodder

[pottedstu · 5/10 · 4 January 2005]

A film like this is only on at one time of the year. Although it's about letters to God rather than Santa Claus, its theme of dreams coming true and its vague sentimentality are just right for the holiday season. The film is about a bunch of misfits and loners discovering a social conscience when they work in a department of the postal service that handles letters addressed to God and other people who don't have regular mailing addresses.

This is certainly no ask-god version of Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts (filmed as Advice to the Lovelorn and Miss Lonelyhearts), where a character faced with innumerable demands from desperate members of the public is slowly driven mad. It seems there are few problems in this film that cannot be solved with a misappropriated saxophone (indeed, with all the gifts being doled out, the film's idea of God is little different to Father Christmas). Wider issues of poverty, illness, death and other injustices are ignored.

As an atheist, I was a little disappointed to see people talking about God inspiring the characters, as though nobody could do a good deed without being an agent of the Lord. It seems odd that a film with a potentially blasphemous premise (people impersonating God) could end up as such an affirmation of religion, but in the cinema people who impersonate priests and nuns tend to end up as heroes (We're No Angels, etc) while actual priests turn out to be villains. This film certainly panders to the audience's need for a feel-good spirituality that is simple and undemanding, without any of the complexities of organised religion.

To be fair, the crew and cast are competent and while it's not Garry Marshall's best film, it's not his most shamelessly manipulative either (Pretty Woman is far stupider). The characters are an appealingly motley bunch that could work well in a sitcom, some of the dialogue is funny, and Dear God is in many ways a decent piece of schmaltz. If you forget about it as soon as it's finished, it's probably fine.

Feel-Good, Positive, Uplifting

[Critic16 · 10/10 · 3 July 1999]

I don't know what you guys are talking about, because I think this was one of the most feel-good, positive, and uplifting movies ever made. I own it, and I never get tired of watching it. It has a lot of heart and reminds me of the movie, Field of Dreams.

Well done.- loved it!

[dan-233-938422 · 9/10 · 5 January 2020]

THis was just a good funny comedy. Nothing amazing, but good clean fun, lots of well known actors and actresses. Tim Conway was himself and always a laugh. Highly recommended.