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Evan Almighty

Not even the almighty Steve Carell can save this comedy disaster

By Geoff Berkshire, Metromix

June 26, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Steve Carell seems to have the golden touch, having made his name with quality work in television ("The Daily Show," "The Office") and film ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Little Miss Sunshine"), but he faces his biggest challenge yet with "Evan Almighty." Can Carell make a middling family comedy—one that relies heavily on bird poop for laughs—worth seeing?

Well, no. Not even Steve Carell is that good. But, considering the level of talent wasted in this aggressively pointless sequel to "Bruce Almighty," it's hard to fault the cast. Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls"), Wanda Sykes ("The New Adventures of Old Christine"), John Goodman ("Roseanne"), John Michael Higgins ("Best in Show"), Jonah Hill ("Knocked Up") and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman can all be counted on to deliver the goods. At least when they have decent material to work with.

This movie's idea of creativity is promoting Carell's smarmy anchorman side character from "Bruce" to leading man and giving him an extreme career makeover to U.S. congressman. Evan's generic campaign promise to "Change the World" perfectly demonstrates the movie's painfully broad approach to comedy and inspiration. In order to keep his word, Evan turns to prayer, resulting in a visit from the same God (Freeman) who previously helped Bruce and now instructs Evan to prepare for a great flood by building an ark.

Neither the filmmakers nor Carell provide any sense of who Evan truly is, preventing the character from developing any sort of arc—a crucial part of any simple morality tale. As for the film's other ark, Evan's task lends a grand sense of spectacle unusual for a comedy. Yet the special effects used to create the flood, the ark and its inhabitants are so shoddy they wouldn't have been impressive a decade ago.

There's plenty of talent in front of the camera in "Evan Almighty," it's too bad the final product has all the appeal of a litter box.

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