God Gave Moses the Ten Commandments;
He Gave Evan "Ark Building for Dummies."
I LOVE GIRAFFES. Put giraffes in a movie and I'll try watching it. I took a chance on Evan Almighty, as Bruce Almighty had been mighty hard to watch. The primary reason this movie plays so well to audiences, one of which gave hearty applause at the screening I attended, was the morality messages and the fun of it all. You can't beat kids getting along with their parents (ultimately), lots of exotic animals, animal shenanigans and bird guano on bad guys' nifty suits.
The messages are:
- Family is a good thing, and can be preserved, by diligently working at caring for the structure and value of the family unit
- The actual intent of the Supreme Being is not, "Ask and you shall receive" but "Ask and you shall have opportunities to receive"
- Change the world by one Act of Random Kindness at a time
- Worrying about the environment is a good thing
After that, how do you have some fun? Add a syrupy little screenplay by Steve Oedekerk, which is too ambitious, makes little sense, ignores political realities and wraps up the end of the movie too quickly (read sloppily). Throw in some expensive ($175K budget) CGI crews and special effects companies and an Ark full of animals. Sprinkle in sturdy performances by Morgan Freeman, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes and Lauren Graham. Frost with environmentalism and voila, you have a yummy confection.
Evan Almighty is a perplexing mix of fact and nonsense, but with Morgan Freeman looking so supreme in his whites, being such a reassuring God, expressing his thoughts clearly—well, it just doesn't seem to matter much how random the whole chaotic story gets. His answers to questions of need are direct and simple. Ask (or pray, as suits you) for courage and he will say he provides opportunities for doing courageous things. Ask how to change the world, as you may have promised in your political campaign speeches, and he will still answer that he provides opportunities to change the world. Ask for a closely-knit family, and he will say he provided opportunities for the family to come solidly together.
This opportunity construct is an easily absorbed principal. Easier and better matched to today's needs—the hungry man being taught how to fish, instead of given fish to eat, just doesn't connect with today's audiences. The story is woven around this simplistic idea. Steve Carell is Evan Baxter, hit and miss patriarch of his family, husband of some 15 years in marriage, newly elected junior Congressman. Baxter is so superficial he is believably political. He is so naive it strains all credibility. However, if the audience isn't all that politically aware, then an anchor of the six o'clock news accepting congrats from his news crew, after he has been elected isn't a big deal. Certainly, a lot of shortcuts are necessary to get the viewer from Bruce Almighty to Evan Almighty. Why shouldn't lightning strike twice?
The new story would not work at all, if it were not for the astonishing shift of Evan Baxter to Evan, today's Noah, which was written by Oedekerk, but made real by Steve Carell. This is not easy to say, given that I have never been a fan. When he started picking up awards and plaudits for his role as Michael Scott in the Television show "The Office" I obligingly tuned to the show at the very next opportunity. I couldn't get through two sets of commercials. A show built on comedy at the expense of others—and little else—just doesn't hold my attention.
Steve Carell's Evan was remarkably notable, as the character arc requires this self-absorbed 'idget to grow from glassy-eyed carelessness to a man whose demeanor oozes compassion, whose face appears gentle, loving, even pious. It's not just the hairiness, and the sandaled outfit mandated by Him. Carell acted like no one has seen him act.
Although Lauren Graham's wifely role was a bit minimal, she managed a winning hand with what she was dealt. Her expressions aided the unwritten moments that gave her character depth. Her Joan's realization, mostly unspoken, when God visits with her in a diner about opportunities to bring a family closer together, is key. It is obvious that she could have the wonderfully close family she prayed for by seizing the opportunities of standing by her man, encouraging her children to do the same. It doesn't get any easier, as morals-to-the-story go. She underscored the epiphany by pulling her punch after the food she wanted appeared on the table in front of her after God left.
The surprisingly compelling performances by the young people were a delight, especially Johnny Simmons and Jimmy Bennett. Their loyalty to Evan, their father, was obvious, as he spent more time with them, earning back their trust. "We like you better now that you're crazy, Dad!" was their indifferent response to all the publicity about their new wacko version of a father. The Ark building scenes were quite educational, a bit of The History Channel style. Giraffes carried buckets of nails as all the animals pitched in to meet the looming flood deadline. Elephants pulled beams, baboons rolled logs, and birds picked up dropped nails. Evan could meet a deadline with help like that, surely.
Wanda Sykes got all the comedic lines—they were pure Sykes and she did her shtick. One other thing: it was amazing they got John Goodman to do the loopy character, Congressman Long, and to get him to look genuinely mortified at the real estate developer's falsified engineering reports. I guess he, like a lot of us, feel the examination of our environmental concerns outweigh the vehicle—if the message is preserve our planet, well, you do what ya gotta do.
Column rating: See?
Yes, for fun and for the special effects.
See with your children?
Definitely. The morality messages are good, especially about children and family.
Reviews are © Carol Lane Patterson and reprinted with permission.
