Evan Almighty

God orders a wasteful congressman to build an ark.

Evan Almighty is the most expensive film comedy ever made, said Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. Unfortunately, this $175 million creation isn't funny. 'œI compute that every laugh cost about $20 million, and most of those are poop jokes.' In 2003's more successful Bruce Almighty, which saw Jim Carrey develop divine powers, Steve Carell played a bit role as a TV reporter who suffers an on-air attack of logorrhea. That scene was a lot funnier than the entirety of Evan Almighty, in which Carell's character, now a congressman, is commanded by God to build an ark. The humorous sequences here mostly involve animal feces and the perils of hammer usage, said Connie Ogle in The Miami Herald. But for a movie that tries to pander to every possible demographic (children, Christians, environmentalists), things could have been a lot worse. Carell remains as charming as possible in a thankless role, and while this family film can't touch Knocked Up for laughs, 'œat least you won't have to explain to your 8-year-old what a bong is.' Here's a commandment for Steve Carell, said Colin Covert in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 'œThou shalt not accept projects beneath thy talents, no matter how many pieces of silver thou art offered.' Keep choosing scripts like this one, and you'll end up in Robin Williams territory.

Rating: PG

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