EVAN ALMIGHTY
In God We Trust: In The Halls of the U.S. Congress, An Animal House of Laughs
The Popcorn Reel Movie Review: "Evan Almighty"
By Omar P.L. Moore/June 22, 2007
Morgan Freeman as God and Steve Carell as Evan Baxter in "Evan Almighty".
(Photos: Ralph Nelson/Universal Pictures)
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Director Tom Shadyac tops himself with the hilarious "Evan
Almighty", the sequel to the mega-hit comedy "Bruce Almighty". Everyone
underplays their roles in this film except the typically vivacious Wanda Sykes,
who is brilliant here -- scene-stealer extraordinaire. Sykes must --
repeat must -- have a film where she is the lead. She is so adept at the
supporting parts that a lead role is no less than she deserves. Sykes
plays Rita, administrative assistant to Representative Evan Baxter (Steve Carell)
a former TV newscaster turned elected U.S. congressman and she has endlessly
priceless one-liners.
Baxter is challenged by everyone's favorite god, Morgan Freeman, whose
almightiness is a gentle torment to Baxter, whom he admonishes and compels to
build an ark because the great flood is coming to West Virginia and surrounding
areas. Genesis 6:14 is a signature character in "Evan Almighty", and that
book, like the film's title is used in a playful way throughout the film, which
is consistently entertaining. Mr. Freeman is good again as the Almighty
One, and in one brief glimpse the Mississippi native is seen crossing the street
wearing a New Orleans Saints football cap -- a reminder of Hurricane Katrina --
the flood that comes in this film is child's play compared to the very real
events of August 2005. One only wonders whether Shadyac would have decided
to turn serious for a split-second and put Freeman's God in a scenario where he
prevents a Katrina-like situation. Perhaps in this film, there could have
been a flashback to August 29, 2005, to show how God on this occasion failed to
stop the hurricane. That would have added depth to Freeman's
character and given him something that the audience could have grasped.
But "Evan Almighty" is a comedy, and Freeman's character remains elusive, a
holographic, faint figment, transparent, genteel and without the nuance that the
scenario in the last paragraph would have brought. Instead, Mr. Carell
reluctantly picks up a mallet and lots of animal company. Before that he
has to sign a bill co-sponsored and devised by Congressman Long (John Goodman)
and Congressman Burrows (Harve Presnell), which addresses land and land use.
Obsessed with his responsibilities he alienates his beautiful wife Joan (Lauren
Graham) and their children at first. But you don't have to have seen 100
films to know that the ice will thaw in the family.
Carell is good once again in a comedic role, and he doesn't become extravagant
or over the top in his performance unlike the prior film's lead star did.
The visual digital effects fit well with his acting (unlike the bad marriage
between Adam Sandler and the effects in last summer's dismal "Click") and there
is even action in this comedy in the form of a runaway ark. Carell's
animal kingdom is one that Eddie Murphy's Dr. Doolittle would likely have been
envious of.
Solid entertainment, "Evan Almighty" is a laugh fest, and for some, the laughs
come on slowly, but when they do arrive, they do so in abundance.
Wanda Sykes steals the show as Rita, congressional assistant to Evan Baxter in
"Evan Almighty".
"Evan Almighty" opened today in the U.S. and Canada and is rated PG by the
Motion Picture Association of America for mild rude humor and some peril.
The film's duration is one hour and 35 minutes.
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