Evan Almighty is Funny, Reverent and You Need to See It With Your Family.
You remember it, don't you? Bill Cosby updates the Noah story. God calls upon a skeptical Noah who responds in modern terms and questions God's wisdom until it starts raining. In response, the modern fashioned Noah suddenly finds religion and faith. "Just you and me God, just you and me."
It is a classic skit and it deserved a film version. Morgan Freeman, who reprises his role as God from "Bruce Almighty" and Steve Carrell, who makes a second appearance as the Everyman character, make this reincarnation true to form. It is funny. It is reverent and you need to see it with your kids.
Those who saw "Bruce Almighty" are in for a surprise. Whereas the former was more adult in nature -- a call to repentance for us grown-ups, the later, "Evan Almighty" is a great lesson for us all.
The humor comes from Carrell who becomes so popular as a newsman that he is elected to Congress. He makes some campaign promises that God reminds him he needs to keep. Like Cosby's Noah, Evan decides he will simply ignore the call of God until the animals start showing up and he starts transforming into an Old Testament prophet.
The best feature of this movie is Morgan Freeman's reverence for the role of God. Like "Oh God's" version of God, he is a loving and lovable person that has that father-like wisdom.
The film also has some intensely emotional and suspenseful moments that make the point that all revelation eventual gets to the point that it becomes reality.
You know the story, so there will be no surprises, but younger children may want to skip the theater version or you may want to discuss the story before the film to younger viewers.
Have fun with this one. We give it our highest rating of Four Bees.