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Evan Almighty is the 2007 sequel to the 2004 Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty, though, technically, I wouldn't consider it a sequel because it really has nothing to do with the first film. This film plucks two characters from the first film and drops them in the middle of a completely different story. The film actually bears more of a resemblance to 1977's Oh God! than the Carrey film.
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This infectious comic romp stars Steve Carell as Evan Baxter, the anchorman from the first film who has just been elected to the US congress, running on a "Change the World" platform. Just as Baxter moves his family to DC and begins working with a shady senior congressman (John Goodman), he is visited by God (Morgan Freeman) who feels Evan's campaign platform makes him the perfect candidate to be a modern day Noah. He commands Evan to build an ark in preparation for a great flood that's coming. Evan feels he has enough on his plate at this time and ignores the heavenly request, but as you can imagine, God is not taking no for an answer and Evan finds strong hints being dropped his way, like a HUGE order of lumber being delivered to his house, God giving him a copy of "Ark Building for Dummies", and a beard that no matter how many times he shaves, it instantly re-appears.
I found this film way more entertaining than the Jim Carrey film, primarily because Evan's character is more likable than Carrey's, even though, Evan Baxter was an obnoxious creep in the first film. Evan has been refashioned as a perfectly nice guy for this film, evoking more sympathy for the character, though the thought did cross my mind how different this film would have been with the Evan from the first film at the center of it, but it did not deter from my enjoyment of this film.
Steve Oedekerk's screenplay is clever, though, like Oh God!, I was somewhat troubled by the situations that God puts Evan in without having his back until the climax, which features some first-rate special effects. Carell is charming, as usual, and gets solid support from Goodman, Lauren Graham as his wife, and Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, and Jonah Hill as congressional aides of Evan's. As suspected, Morgan Freeman is class personified as the Almighty, just as he was in the first film.
This is an entertaining comedy that avoids a lot of the preachiness that such a story could invoke and make sure you stay tuned through the closing credits.
Evan Almighty is the 2007 sequel to the 2004 Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty, though, technically, I wouldn't consider it a sequel because it really has nothing to do with the first film. This film plucks two characters from the first film and drops them in the middle of a completely different story. The film actually bears more of a resemblance to 1977's Oh God! than the Carrey film.
This infectious comic romp stars Steve Carell as Evan Baxter, the anchorman from the first film who has just been elected to the US congress, running on a "Change the World" platform. Just as Baxter moves his family to DC and begins working with a shady senior congressman (John Goodman), he is visited by God (Morgan Freeman) who feels Evan's campaign platform makes him the perfect candidate to be a modern day Noah. He commands Evan to build an ark in preparation for a great flood that's coming. Evan feels he has enough on his plate at this time and ignores the heavenly request, but as you can imagine, God is not taking no for an answer and Evan finds strong hints being dropped his way, like a HUGE order of lumber being delivered to his house, God giving him a copy of "Ark Building for Dummies", and a beard that no matter how many times he shaves, it instantly re-appears.
I found this film way more entertaining than the Jim Carrey film, primarily because Evan's character is more likable than Carrey's, even though, Evan Baxter was an obnoxious creep in the first film. Evan has been refashioned as a perfectly nice guy for this film, evoking more sympathy for the character, though the thought did cross my mind how different this film would have been with the Evan from the first film at the center of it, but it did not deter from my enjoyment of this film.
Steve Oedekerk's screenplay is clever, though, like Oh God!, I was somewhat troubled by the situations that God puts Evan in without having his back until the climax, which features some first-rate special effects. Carell is charming, as usual, and gets solid support from Goodman, Lauren Graham as his wife, and Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, and Jonah Hill as congressional aides of Evan's. As suspected, Morgan Freeman is class personified as the Almighty, just as he was in the first film.
This is an entertaining comedy that avoids a lot of the preachiness that such a story could invoke and make sure you stay tuned through the closing credits.