I got the chance to attend an advance screening of Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty. Now, I ain’t no highfalutin movie reviewer, so this is from an Average Mike. (The movie opens on 6/22.)
The movie stars Steve Carell of “The Office” and The 40 Year Old Virgin fame (there were several funny references to both in the movie). There was also a bevy of stars: Morgan Freeman, reprising his role as God (who beats the heck outta George Burns’ version), Lauren Graham (“Gilmore Girls”), John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, Molly Shannon, Jon Stewart, and more.
The most significant thing to know is that this is a very different movie from its predecessor Bruce Almighty (which I loved). The first was an adult comedy (PG-13), and this is a family comedy (PG). (And that should set your expectations on the quality – not a cinematic masterpiece, but a fun, 90some minute flick.)
What it shares, though, is some great belly laughs. It is very funny – and quite poignant, maybe more so than BA. And Carell proves what a great physical comedian he is.
Quick summary: Former TV news anchorman, Evan Baxter, is elected to the US Congress. A simple prayer seeking help to change the world results in a divine visitation and the call to build an actual ark in his back yard. The process of Baxter accepting the call and then the building of the ark makes for some great entertainment, including some impressive special effects.
In terms of potentially offensive content – especially for conservative Christians – there is some occasional bathroom humor, a handful of mild swear words (although the overwhelming absence of cursing is refreshing), and an overall emphasis on the conservation of God’s creation, which may ruffle some dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. (Hint: Check your cinematic and political critiques at the door. Just have some fun.)
But it also makes for some pointed observations about life and faith. For instance, when Baxter explains his plans to God, He just laughs and replies, “Your plans?” Funny. Ouch.
It’s also an insightful look into what it might have been like for biblical characters like Noah – dealing with neighbors, coworkers, family, etc. (How would/do we treat those who say they’ve heard from God? Hmmm)
Freeman/God also makes the statement: “Whatever I do, I do it because I love you” – an ongoing theme in the movie.
There are some lessons on obedience in this Hollywood movie. And I loved the portrayal of God, similar to BA – fun, sarcastic, caring. And Carell’s final encounter with God is absolutely perfect. Definitely recommended for just about any age.
Also, some ministries have developed a program for churches called ArkAlmighty, a good deeds program that matches up the needs in congregations and communities with the talents and skills of the members of churches. I heard there are almost 7,000 churches participating. Pretty cool.
BONUS: Some fun trivia (from IMDB) about the movie’s title progression: Bruce Almighty 2 (working title), Bruce: The Second Coming (working title), The Passion of the Ark (original script title).
UPDATE: To answer Eric’s question below, I didn’t catch anything ridiculing any part of the biblical story or faith in general. Quite the contrary. My understanding is that the Producer is an evangelical Christian, who had to agree to some questionable stuff in Bruce Almighty, but with its success, was able to make the family film he wanted to this time. Maybe someone can share links to interviews with him that would shed light on that…?
Loading ...
June 13, 2007 at 06:02
I also saw an advanced screening. I would agree with your review, it was a funny movie, especially for my family. We all laughed, and my wife and kids laughed so hard they cried. If I had to invest money to go see the movie (which I didn’t, which I like!), it would have been a better investment than the lackluster sequels, such as Shrek 3 and Pirates 3. I did have some concerns and questions about the marketing endeavor to the church. I comment on that and have a review on my blog. Tell me what you think!
June 13, 2007 at 06:30
My only question/concern is what elements in the film (if any) ridicule Noah, the Flood, and God specifically, or Christianity in general?
I mean this is Hollywood we’re talking about here. There must be something right?
June 13, 2007 at 08:33
I knew you would LOVE it Mikey…you LOVE entertaiment.
June 13, 2007 at 10:50
OK, here’s a question I’ve had ever since the announcement of the movie’s plot: Does it address the fact that this is God planning to flood the world despite His rainbow-sealed covenent not to do that again?
Thanks,—Chris
June 13, 2007 at 13:52
Hey Chris: I don’t want to ruin it, but that is not an problem here, due to the storyline…
June 13, 2007 at 21:08
Mikey – what a wonderfully enthusiastic review! I also liked BA (the scene with Carrey in the middle of the street and surrendering himself – too good). We don’t go to movies (money thing)- but looking forward to the video release for sure. Yep – Morgan Freeman’s interpretation of God beats George Burns all to—oops – that wasn’t a good turn of phrase – anyway – looking forward to it now. and PLEASE check out the Arkalmighty site – what a wonderful concept!
June 14, 2007 at 11:21
My guess about who the “producer” Mike is refering to above is probably Director/Producer Tom Shadyac.
You may view interviews with him by Christianity Today (here) and Christian Answers (here).
Here’s a thorough and thoughful Christian(’s) review by Marsena Konkle at Ransom Fellowship.
I suspect much of the gleanings on Shadyac’s work and perspective as a Christian are indebted to Steve Garber’s insight. The Jollyblogger posted notes (here) from a lecture we heard Steve deliver a couple years ago.
June 17, 2007 at 17:50
To the person who asked if God or Christianity was made fun of in the movie, the answer is a surprising “No.” I saw an advanced screening as well with several local ministers and the Bible was not only quoted and used as a guide by Evan, but also respected in addition to faith in God. I think that Hollywood may be learning that there’s a lot of Christians out there who’d like to have fun with their families too and that Hollywood would be better off to not make fun of them but instead to make products for them. Good review, I reviewed it too at my website.
June 18, 2007 at 00:48
The fact that God is made a character in a comedy movie and not held in sacred regard is wrong anytime, regardless of the value of humor. The fact that God appears face-to-face to this man without that man dying is not in keeping with facts in the Bible. If it had been an angel, then that would be different. The other thing about God asking this man to build an ark, would imply that God was going to destroy the earth by flood again. This would not be an act of disciple, but punishment. This action also goes against the Word of God. He said He would never again destroy the earth by flood and even gave us the rainbow as a reminder of that promise. This whole plot line makes God out to be a liar. Sorry, that doesn’t fly with me. Blasphemy is blasphemy, don’t try and sugar coat it.
June 18, 2007 at 19:18
the previews were so funny! I’m really looking forward to seeing the movie. Thanks whoever for making it. We need to laugh more and be less spiritually high minded.
June 19, 2007 at 09:57
Would someone please read Genesis 6:5-8 and tell me what’s so funny about that? It’s about man’s wickedness and only thinking about himself. It’s about God being grieved that he created mankind. It’s about everyone on earth having the chance over 120 years to repent but choosing not to. And finally, it’s about our need for a Savior. Anything funny about this?
I disagree with Suzanne – we need to be more spiritually minded and laugh when things are truely funny not when there’s cause for people to be led astray.
June 19, 2007 at 23:55
The only reason I read the reviews on this site is because it came up second on the google search results.
I was surprised to see many positive reviews.
To those who think it’s blasphemy…
Come on. It’s all in good fun. They have said the movie was respectful. If they had used an angel instead, it wouldn’t have had the same effect. If the movie is evangelical, do you really think God is upset that he was portrayed as a human? I don’t.
Surprisingly enough, I think God has a sense of humor too. Afterall, He did give it to us. Right?
June 20, 2007 at 05:13
To RichardH:
Bible-reading people would know about God’s promise to not destroy the earth again, and about how unworthy and unholy we are to see His face, but this is a work of fiction. The movie’s theme is, “What IF God did tell Evan to make an ark?”
If we’re going to go the route of “blasphemy is blasphemy”, then should we also, say, determine the dates when the movie occured and see if it was really raining or the sun was shining, or check the actual location in suburbia where these events occurred?
Again, recalling that this movie is fictional (as in, “the events did not really happen”), I’m happy to hear that God is portrayed REALISTICALLY in how He relates to us. That’s more important, and that would apply to me whether my name is Evan or not.
June 20, 2007 at 13:40
To RichardH,
The physical embodiment of God in the Movies, both Bruce and Evan Almighty is necessary. I was concerned about this myself before I saw Bruce Almighty, the problem is without a person to talk to the Characters of Bruce or Evan can more easily be perceived as crazy and you lose the purpose of the story. While the Bible does say we can not look upon his true form, is it not possible that he can speak to us through a form that is not his own? After all he did talk to Moses through a bush. God is Almighty and can do anything he wants, I cannot discount the idea that he might create a human looking conduit though which to speak to us and of course this is a work of fiction that is trying to keep things simple so they don’t overshadow the point of the story.
June 20, 2007 at 20:58
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that if Jesus were here with me on Friday when the movie came out, I would be ashamed to take Him see it. I MOST ASSUREDLY believe in having a sense of humor. I’m also gonna take a wild scripturally based stab and say, “Hey, they made a movie about dad, you wanna go see it?”
Depicting God as anything less than Holy is wrong. Flat out. Morgan Freeman is a great actor, and from what I hear from those who know him, a great man. But he isn’t Almighty Holy God. I make a living from my sense of humor, but this is treading in dangerous waters.
June 21, 2007 at 12:10
What about the diety and holiness of God? Are we not supposed to be reverent of our Creator? I am appalled and very disturbed that anyone would find joy in blaspheming our precious Lord by participating in or watching this film. Shame on any Christian (or Christian radio station, church, or BooksChristian.com (from whom I just received an email promoting this movie) or other “Christian” supplier) for partaking in something that just does not glorify God (I Cor 10:31).
Mikey says ”(Hint: Check your cinematic and political critiques at the door. Just have some fun.)” That’s saying: “Forget for a while that you’re a Christian and that you were bought with a VERY HIGH price and just sit back and laugh at your Lord for a while . . what will it hurt?” In this case, I would say, “Let’s NOT ask Mikey . . He’ll like anything!”
June 22, 2007 at 00:16
Hmmm. Seems to me that god killing 6 billion people is not funny, no matter what era it occurs in. I’m curious to see how evangelical america will react to god being black. I’m sure it’s not a problem for most of the faithful, but it seems that certain christians today are behing the times.
June 22, 2007 at 12:05
I don’t think anyone should mind G-d being portrayed as black. After all, Jesus had dark skin, too.
June 22, 2007 at 23:52
Come on people, lighten up! It’s an entertaining movie. Enjoy it. No, it’s not gonna win an Oscar but it did make me chuckle. It’s something that the family can enjoy together. There’s no bad language in it and yes, it’s predictable at times, but I saw nothing in it the average person would be offended by. It’s just a fun way to kill a few hours. And all of you out there nit-picking about Evan being asked to build an ark because a flood is going to destroy the earth… You OBVIOUSLY have not seen the movie, because in the movie he never said that the earth was going to be destroyed. He said “a great flood is coming”. The 40 day & night thing and destroying the earth was never mentioned… That is what people ASSUMED. (kind of like all of you who haven’t seen the movie) A great flood did come. It just wasn’t what people expected. Oh, and not to nit-pick with anyone, but “Mike” asks what was funny about Genesis 6:5-8. Well, again it was NEVER mentioned in the movie since the plot revolves around Genesis 6:14. Anyway, a lot of you folks are just nuts. You’re all up in arms over something you haven’t even seen. Everyone wants to rush to judgment based on “what they know”. And “RichardH”, as far as your quote about “not in keeping with facts in the Bible”... Since when has anything in the bible been proven a fact? You believe them to be.. And I suppose that is why you have your faith. Correct? I didn’t intend for this so be a rant about religion or anyone’s choice in beliefs. Believe what you want. Just don’t judge things or others you know nothing about.
June 23, 2007 at 09:51
Stumbled across your review to see if I was going to see this movie, and it looks like I am. Thanks for the thoughtful review.
Quibble – while the “check your political critiques at the door” comment is appropos, you’ve assumed conservative Christians (like me) are against conservation of God’s creation. That’s an incorrect assumption – God tells us through the book of Genesis that we are to be careful stewards of His creation. While non-Christian pro-business conservatives like to drill for oil in grandma’s backyard, Christian conservatives want to obey God’s instructions first.
June 23, 2007 at 20:04
The movie was uninspired, so to speak. Steve Carill tried his best, but his talents are wated, having received zero funny lines from the writers. I thought it was “heartwarming,” however.
My complete review
June 24, 2007 at 00:28
I’m looking forward to seeing this!
It’s a little disturbing to me that you had to put the warning that there is stuff about “an overall emphasis on the conservation of God’s creation”. I know you weren’t speaking to yourself, but it’s really disheartening that there are followers of Christ who oppose caring for His creation.
Also, you might want to edit it to say “Christian conservatives” rather than “conservative Christians”. Usually the latter term is used to describe theological conservatism, while first describes political.
June 24, 2007 at 09:39
I take great offense to those saying that “true Christians” wouldn’t go see this movie. I went and saw it on Friday a little wary of what they were going to do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian. Who’s to say God wasn’t in support of bringing a movie like this to the masses? We don’t know. I can tell you the movie was very well done and I got something out of it too. There is a scene where Morgan Freeman’s character is talking to Evan’s wife and it’s something I will apply to my life as a Christian. Not only I, but one of my friend’s that was with me got something from that scene. It really hit her hard as we were discussing it after the movie and I’m glad we were able to come away with it.
As for killing billions of people. That is not what happens. I was also worried about them going against God’s covenant to Noah, but that didn’t happen. I’m not going to say what happens, but it’s not in keeping with the original story, because he’s not supposed to be Noah. He’s Evan Baxter, a guy that got called by God to do something out of the ordinary to serve God’s greater purpose.
June 24, 2007 at 23:56
The film is full of bad theology. I find nothing funny about promoting Biblically incorrect doctrine concerning the nature of God or the Great Flood. In fact, Morgan Freeman’s portrayal makes G-d seem like a petty deity who uses suffering and abuse to get his way. He also espouses politically correct (i.e., God is only love, never anger) baloney concerning the reason for the Great Flood, saying it wasn’t about retribution for sin, but about love. I won’t even get into the instances of toilet humor and profanity (and yes, yelling “Sheep” instead of the other word is still profanity since even a 5-year old knows what is being referenced).
There are a lot of things we can enjoy a good belly laugh over. Making a mockery of God’s Word isn’t one of those things. Yet, should I really expect more from a modern Christian community that grows more like the world every day?
June 25, 2007 at 09:48
I am SO glad that there is finally a funny movie I can take my 5 year old & recommend to friends & family! I want more!
June 25, 2007 at 10:56
The movie might not be theologically correct—which I noticed myself—but at least it isn’t “Knocked Up.” That movie, for those who haven’t seen it, literally glamorize drugs under the guise of comedy.
At least Evan Almighty, if nothing else, reminds us there is a merciful God in Heaven. Otherwise, I’m sure he wouldn’t have given us the rainbow as his promise not to destroy us by flood again.
Aida L. Irizarry
http://www.byreasonofpassion.com (a romance novel with a twist: it deals with domestic violence)
June 25, 2007 at 22:47
My seven year old son knows this movie is blasphemy.
If you read your Bible you would as well.
June 26, 2007 at 13:19
For those of you that say, “come on It’s all in good fun!” listen to yourselves, Isn’t that exactly what satan says when he wants you to bend the rules just enough so he can grab ahold of you and eat you up? Don’t we all pray at night “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”?
“Am i trying to win the approval of men, or of god?” Galatians 1:10…. would you really want god to see that movie?
Listen to Isaiah 7:9 – ” If you dont stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all”
June 26, 2007 at 19:02
This film was an assault upon my intellect and sense of humor. Where it had the potential to be thoughtful or at least thought-provoking, it opted for ridiculous slapstick instead. At least in the first film, Bruce Almighty, the concept of faith was explored. But here, the writers resort to cheap CGI, recycled animal stunts, and tired old depictions of the hard-working, all-American dad, in an attempt to distribute a watered-down version of a myth that is scientifically impossible. My eight year old said it best when we left the theater, “Daddy, that was awful.”
July 5, 2007 at 11:33
What interesting comments!
I certainly appreciate the folks who are concerned about the blaspheme and bad theology in these films. Hopefully no serious Christian is going to these movies to learn theology.
I have found that even these films (and especially their theological flaws) are useful to open opportunities for teaching and evangelism. You can talk about why people cannot really stand in the presence of God – why supernatural power is not what makes God God – why a God of love is also a God who executes judgment – etc.
Of course you have to watch the film first to come up with the lesson plans and I don’t think you need to be self-righteously prudish that you don’t laugh at some of the situations. They ARE funny!
You might notice there is a lot of blaspheme in the narratives of the Bible and sometimes those are funny too! Consider Sennacherib’s blaspheme in 2Kings 19 for example. Read Jonah! Read Esther! Laugh and learn!