Evan Almighty Very So-So
The new Steve Carell movie, Evan Almighty, will be a big winner at the box office despite some very lackluster reviews. It's a "sort-of" sequel to Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey, which was also a lackluster film that did very well with ever-fickle audiences.
Steve Carell does his best work in smaller-budget movies that nobody sees coming. Who would have thought a film like The 40-Year-Old Virgin could actually be a smart comedy that adults could enjoy? Little Miss Sunshine came out of nowhere last year to wow film festival crowds before being picked up by a major studio and getting a feature release. Carell is a good leading man loser, but only when we don't see it coming.
There are many reasons why this movie doesn't work. First of all, we can all pretty much figure out what's going to happen. It's the same basic plot as Miracle on 34th Street, which was released in theaters 60 years ago. A person receives a message from a higher being, the person makes some sort of lifestyle change due to this message, everyone thinks the person is crazy, and then the person convinces everyone that he/she is not crazy. It doesn't work here because the general public should realize that Carell's character is not crazy. He has pairs of animals that follow him everywhere for no apparent reason. Oh yeah, he must be crazy, because he's making us see all those animals. The animals then help him build an ark. Yep, still crazy. He must be using mind control on the animals. When he shaves his beard, it instantly grows back. Only a crazy man could have that kind of follicle control.
I realize that this movie is fiction, but the reactions of the people in the movie to the changes in Carell's character's life are far out of line with what I can find believable. It's a story of one man who talks with God and the general public who lacks faith. I just don't understand what kind of sign these people need. An instant-growth beard and hundreds of animals with self-awareness following a man are not enough to prove that something strange is going on? Nope, let's call him crazy and remove him from his job.
Variety.com - Reviews - Evan Almighty
Steve Carell does his best work in smaller-budget movies that nobody sees coming. Who would have thought a film like The 40-Year-Old Virgin could actually be a smart comedy that adults could enjoy? Little Miss Sunshine came out of nowhere last year to wow film festival crowds before being picked up by a major studio and getting a feature release. Carell is a good leading man loser, but only when we don't see it coming.
There are many reasons why this movie doesn't work. First of all, we can all pretty much figure out what's going to happen. It's the same basic plot as Miracle on 34th Street, which was released in theaters 60 years ago. A person receives a message from a higher being, the person makes some sort of lifestyle change due to this message, everyone thinks the person is crazy, and then the person convinces everyone that he/she is not crazy. It doesn't work here because the general public should realize that Carell's character is not crazy. He has pairs of animals that follow him everywhere for no apparent reason. Oh yeah, he must be crazy, because he's making us see all those animals. The animals then help him build an ark. Yep, still crazy. He must be using mind control on the animals. When he shaves his beard, it instantly grows back. Only a crazy man could have that kind of follicle control.
I realize that this movie is fiction, but the reactions of the people in the movie to the changes in Carell's character's life are far out of line with what I can find believable. It's a story of one man who talks with God and the general public who lacks faith. I just don't understand what kind of sign these people need. An instant-growth beard and hundreds of animals with self-awareness following a man are not enough to prove that something strange is going on? Nope, let's call him crazy and remove him from his job.
Variety.com - Reviews - Evan Almighty