Movie Review: Evan Almighty

Steve Carell is NOT my favorite actor. I think most of his attempts to entertain fall short because they rely too heavily on crude humor. I'm pretty split when discussing him because some times I find him quite enjoyable. Among his family-friendlier roles and better performances, are great films such as Over the Hedge and Bruce Almighty, the prequel to Evan Almighty.

However, most of what I have seen from him has not been my favorite. I'm not a fan of the Daily Show with John Stewart, which is the first time I remember seeing Carell.

Among the flops, are Little Miss Sunshine and 40 Year Old Virgin. Neither of these movies are worth the time. Virgin had one comic scene in it that was not offensive...and you saw that on the trailers, so consider the trailor the highlight reel as well. Sunshine was disgusting in that it glorified a severely disfunctional family and made a little girl dancing very provocatively "ok" in the eyes of America. I really was disappointed in these two films...beyond anything I could put on here.

His success has brought him the lead role in NBC's The Office. I've seen it a handful of times, and most of the time I do not find it humorous.

It's not all bad though. Horton Hears a Who, set to release in March of 2008, looks promising not only because I adore Dr. Seuss and love Seussical the Musical, but because the cast members include Jim Carrey (sometimes offensive, I know...but still funny), Carol Burnett, my beloved Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from the first two seasons of Lost, my favorite show...I'm still mad that Ekko left).

I used to LOVE the show "Get Smart" as a kid. I watched the reruns every chance I could get...so I will probably like the almost-have-to-be-family-friendly film version starring Carell as the lead role, Maxwell Smart.

But on to this review! Evan Almighty is absoluetly my favorite of all Carell's performances. Chad and I struggled to remember any cussing in the movie. (Jack_ _ _ and p*ssed were the most offensive words in the movie and they were only used once I believe. Beyond that, we can't remember any foul language or sexual content. It's just a good movie that reminds us that God does things and allows things because He loves us.

Wanda Sykes and Morgan Freeman deliver great performances. Wanda's straight-to-the-point humor is sometimes sprinkled, to the say the least, with cussing...but doggone it! She's funny! And Morgan Freeman has been in some great roles for films like Lean On Me, Driving Miss Daisy, Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven, and Million Dollar Baby. He's just one of the great actors.

Jimmy Bennett as Evan's youngest son, Ryan, is adorable! (Bennett was a voice in Polar Express, a GREAT kid's movie...has been seen on Everwood, Daddy Daycare, Judgin Amy, CSI, and Hostage. He's worked with great actors like Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, and Richard Dreyfuss.)

I prefer John Goodman as a jolly good-guy, but he does a good job in this movie playing the nemesis to our contemporary Noah, Evan Baxter.

The soundtrack was pretty good as well. I found myself singing along a few times!

All in all, there were some GREAT one-liners in this movie, the humor is extremely family friendly, and the premis of the movie has good principles. I give it 4 stars!!


Okay...here's one more for good measure. I really miss Mr. Eko.