Posted: 03/11/2007

Evan Almighty

(2007)

by Hank Yuloff

The first Film Monthly review ever to fully quote the Bible.

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this [is the fashion] which thou shalt make it [of]: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every [sort] shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep [them] alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every [sort] shall come unto thee, to keep [them] alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather [it] to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Evidently, even God enjoys sequels, because in Genesis 6:14-21 you find the plot to the most expensive (well, if God produces, it would have to be) comedy ever shot—Evan Almighty.

Evan is actually a theme sequel to Bruce Almighty with Steve Carell elevated six spots to the lead role (we don’t see a moment of Jim Carrey or Jennifer Aniston from Bruce Almighty) with Morgan Freeman (Glory, Million Dollar Baby) renewing his role as the King of Kings.

This time, He is working in an unusual way to save many lives by contacting newly elected Congressman Evan Baxter (Carell from The Office) and have him build an ark in preparation for a great flood (see above). He, like Bruce before him, does not immediately grasp that it is more of an order rather than a request, and the first act of the film is filled with gags about Evan becoming Noah and finally realizing that it is easier to do what God says than fight it.

But as followers of the Lord have found for many centuries, many times it is difficult to say you have been speaking to the Creator of the Universe. Baxter, as a freshman Congressman is allowed the minimum amount of latitude and his fellow leaders find it a bit odd that he begins dressing in Middle Eastern robes.

The embodiment of Congress is John Goodman, a senior committee chairman who you can tell is up to no good, and know he is going to get it in the end. Goodman seems to have borrowed from his stint on The West Wing, when he played Senator Glenallen Walken, but Walken was a far scarier than Evan’s Congressman Long. Too few dimensions to this man make him a very flat (difficult for Goodman) character. In my opinion, the movie is always better when the bad guy is better understood. The same can be said for Evan’s wife in this one. Lauren Graham should have been allowed to take more from her long time role of Lorelai Gilmore and we would have had a much more fleshed out character.

The sight gags are plentiful in this film. Some (bird poop on the suit) are obvious and sad. Others are pretty amusing (one very good tip of the cap to Carell’s career-maker The 40 Year-Old Virgin). But aside from Freeman who is perfectly measured as Our Father, I didn’t do what a comedy is supposed to make you do: laugh. Far too few giggles and guffaws to make this a positive review.

The bottom line for Evan Almighty is that it is difficult for anyone in Hollywood, Heavenly abilities aside, to go back to the well and find new life in what was a very good original.

Hank Yuloff is a film critic living in Los Angeles.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com