Evan Almighty

Director: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, Jonah Hill
Running Time: 90 min.
Rating: PG

** (out of ****)

The two biggest laughs to be found in Evan Almighty are both unintentional. The first comes early when Jonah Hill appears onscreen...in a suit. I'm not sure why that's so funny, and it probably shouldn't be, but it is. The second comes at the very end when we find out where this film's $175 million dollar budget went with a special effects sequence so ridiculously large in scope it makes Titanic and The Lord of The Rings look like low budget indies in comparison. Kind of a sequel to Jim Carrey's 2003 comedy hit Bruce Almighty, this is a film that's just kind of there. It isn't spectacularly bad, but is poorly written and packs too much nonsense into its scant running time.

Kids may enjoy it as there are some lively performances and occasional laughs sprinkled about, but everyone else will be bored. It is a movie the entire family can watch together because it contains a good message, but one delivered so sloppily it's nearly impossible to get behind. That it comes from the same writer and director team that brought us the original is perplexing because the plot line has absolutely nothing to do with that film (which was no great shakes itself). Credit Carrey for being wise in sitting this one out. He's replaced by the very talented Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, TV's The Office) who provided the biggest laughs in the first film in his small role as anchorman Evan Baxter. His streak of winning comedies comes to a screaching halt here.

To say Carell's Baxter returns in this film wouldn't be completely accurate since the filmmakers have ignored the egotistical jerk he was in the first film and turned him into a caring family man who's just been elected to Congress. He packs up with his wife Joan (Lauren Graham) and three sons to Virginia, moving into a neighborhood that's literally in the middle of nowhere. It's very strange. There appears to be one street, one house (theirs), and no civilization for miles. Their house looks like it was just randomly dropped in the middle of a field, almost resembling the model home on Arrested Development. Just when Evan starts getting chummy with a political bigwig in Congressmen Long (John Goodman) God (Morgan Freeman, inexplicably back for more) shows up and instructs Evan to build an ark in preparation for a giant flood. Lumber start to show up at his house, animals flock to him, his facial hair grows at an uncontrollable rate, and for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but writer Steve Oedekerk, he goes insane.

All of this provides ample opportunity for Carell to show us what he's got and he doesn't disappoint. With his laid back charm and gift for physical comedy he can really carry a movie (even a bad one) and his performance prevents Evan Almighty from being a total disaster. Unfortunately though, his committed effort isn't enough to elevate the trite material. What laughs do exist are nearly all supplied by Wanda Sykes as Evan's secretary, as if Oedekirk sat down at his computer and made a concerted effort to give her every good line in the film. The story limps along at a snail's pace until about the last 30 minutes where it becomes minimally fun to see everyone's (particularly Sikes') reaction to Evan's sudden lifestyle change. Unfortunately we're also tortured by a manufactured marital crisis and a silly environmental subplot involving Goodman's evil Congressman so heavy-handed it could have been written by Al Gore.

While it's always a pleasure seeing the underrated Goodman onscreen, it isn't one seeing him in a one-dimensional fathead role like this. Part of me wondered if he was cast as Congressman Chuck Long as some kind of an inside jab at his television portrayal of controversial Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long over a decade ago. That my thoughts actually shifted to this useless bit of information during the film can't be a good sign. Lauren Graham is a pretty and likeable actress who deserves a co-starring role in a big film like this and does what she can with the suffering wife character she's saddled with. There's a point in the third act where she just packs up the kids and leaves. Why? If I had to guess I'd say it's because Oedekirk had to create false crisis so she could go running back to into Evan's arms for our happy ending.

In addition to the film's blatantly transparent political agenda, it's also overtly religious, dropping references to Genesis 6:14 and preaching about random acts of kindness. That didn't bother me at all since it's rare a family movie actually sends a good message to children, but it calls unwanted attention to itself and feels like a big letdown since the first film had much more of an edge to it.

Religious beliefs notwithstanding, the only thing likely to offend anyone about this movie is how poorly thought out it was. That's never more obvious than in the huge CGI sequence at the end of the film, so overblown and fake looking it can't help but feel completely incongruous with not only every scene preceding it, but the movie's entire message. Evan Almighty has its heart in the right place and a quality film was buried under this material, but it just collapses under the weight of its own ambitions. It's proof that $175 million can buy you big special effects but a good script is priceless.