Evan Almighty

Release date: June 22, 2007
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, Wanda Sykes, John Goodman

The biggest buzz surrounding the unnecessary sequel Evan Almighty is that it's the most expensive comedy ever made. Unfortunately, after watching the movie, that's still the most interesting thing about it, as evidently none of that money went into making a funny script.

Steve Carell reprises his role from Bruce Almighty as Evan Baxter. The former news anchor is now a politician whose campaign slogan is "Change The World." God (Freeman) hears his prayers for a better world and decides to give him the task of building an ark and filling it with animals, Book Of Genesis-style. Of course, the point of this is to show him the bigger picture in life, and bring him closer to his wife (Graham) and kids.

So, What Do You Think Of The Ark Blueprints?
That's about it, really. Hacktackular director Tom Shadyac has made the safest and most predictable comedy you'll see this year. Writer Steve Oedekerk's middling jokes will amuse neither young nor older family members in the audience. Even if you judge this on a family movie scale, it rarely elicits more than a few chuckles.

For the kids, Evan hurts himself a lot and does a stupid dance over and over throughout the film. Considering the movie is about Noah's Ark, there's surprisingly little humour that comes from the animals, aside from birds shitting on John Goodman. The adults get truly awful one-liners from Wanda Sykes who, as annoying as she often is, delivers some of the few funny moments in the film.

Though he's far too good for this movie, Carell saves it from sinking entirely. He does everything he can with what he has, and while the material constantly plays to the cheap seats, the former Daily Show correspondent never panders. Unlike recent output from Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin, you can tell that Carell is above this.

The environmentally friendly undertones and good-natured lesson-learning make Evan Almighty a good choice if you're looking for something to take your toddlers to, but anyone over the age of eight would see past its hackneyed humour. Despite its enormous production cost coupled with marketing and promotional saturation, Evan Almighty is a flop of biblical proportions.