Evan Almighty
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Christian themes permeate sweet family comedy
<!--ARTICLE HEADLINE-->Roger Moore |
MCT News Service
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The benevolent, godly presence of Morgan Freeman comes out as a born-again tree hugger in "Evan Almighty." He's an Almighty on the lookout for a new Noah to build a new ark because of what we're doing to His Creation.
It's a gentle, warm, "big tent" big-budget comedy with all the rough edges rubbed off. Not an edge to be found. You'd be hard pressed to find something in "Evan" that would offend.
Of course, the best comedies push the envelope, tweak mores and spear sacred cows. "Evan" does none of these and suffers mightily for it. But there are family-friendly (and Christian-accented) charms and laughs in this blend of "Oh God!," "Ace Ventura" and "Field of Dreams."
Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is a Buffalo TV news anchor who has won a seat in Congress. His party isn't identified. But he's a TV personality. He makes a big show out of praying. His first purchase to celebrate the career change is a HumVee. His second is a McMansion in a newly clear-cut valley in the Virginia suburbs.
And he has won his seat by promising to "Change the World." God (Freeman) takes him up on it. Evan may be all set to sell out to the development committee chair (John Goodman) who wants him on board his "Pave the National Parks" bill. But Mr. "One nation, under Me" has other plans.
God starts out subtle, rubbing the General Electric label off Evan's alarm clock until it reads "Gen 6:14," as in "Genesis, 6:14." That's the chapter and verse of the Bible that has to do with boats and gopher wood. But Evan has to have it spelled out.
Evan's wife (Lauren Graham) and kids are confused when trucks start dumping loads of timber in the vacant lot next door, when Dad's beard starts growing like mad.
Rather than giving supernatural powers to a jerk and having him reform, a la "Bruce Almighty," this Almighty takes a conservative TV anchor and congressman and makes him walk the walk and not just talk the talk. His faith is put through a Job-like series of tests.
That's actually a clever conceit, as are all the things they borrow from "Field of Dreams." God's message, about practicing random kindness and preserving creation, is a sweet one.
You don't have to be a Christian, past or present, to warm up to "Evan Almighty," but it helps. God's zingers and his little intervention with Evan's wife are as positive an exploration of his "mysterious ways" as the movies have ever had. Credit Freeman for this.
But Carell, in a variation of his sweet, clueless, but not utterly stupid character, doesn't do enough to hang a movie on.
All the animal and animal-poop gags, the little dance Carell's character does (repeated, by everybody, in the closing credits) and all the expensive animal and ark effects simply don't add up to huge laughs.
As summer comedies go, "Evan" isn't heaven sent. It's just standard Hollywood fare, cleaned up for the Christian audience that Universal prays will show up.
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Evan Almighty
• Stars: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham
• Director: Tom Shadyac
• Review: 6 out of 10
• View the trailer: www.evanalmighty.com
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