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
