Evan Almighty

Few mainstream films have ever been more mechanical than Evan Almighty, a comedy in which every line is recycled, every gag is forced, and every story surprise is stupefying in its obviousness. What’s strange is that it stars one of the least mechanical comic actors of the moment. Steve Carell was a “Daily Show” regular when he got his big break sending up Jim Carrey’s rubbery mannerisms in the mediocre Bruce Almighty. In just one scene, Carell was jettisoned to stardom, delivering uproariously funny and refreshingly three-dimensional performances in contemporary comedy classics—The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine—as well as headlining a hit TV sitcom—“The Office.” Unfortunately, God—er, I mean Hollywood—has summoned Carell to meet his movie star destiny—that is leave indie film heaven for a bloated money-making enterprise designed to sell tickets as opposed to deliver real laughs.

Long-time Carrey comedy director Tom Shadyac displays very little faith in his own project, copying nearly shot-for-shot scenes from old tried-and-true hits like Oh God!, The Santa Clause, and even his own (vastly superior) Liar Liar. Shadyac apparently thought audiences wouldn’t notice his utter lack of imagination if he distracted them with lots of animals (the most in film history) and lots of special effects (sending the film’s budget soaring to nearly $200 million…a sum it is doomed never to make back). He casts wonderful comic actors like John Michael Higgins, Wanda Sykes and John Goodman, and gives each of them exactly one note to play until they become quickly insufferable (Sykes’s wisecracks are funny until one realizes that her character’s sole function is to provide nothing but wisecracks).

Everything in the film is so forced that Shadyac even tries to create (as he did in Bruce Almighty) a Carrey-style catchphrase (a la “Alllrighty then!”) designed to “spontaneously” become a household name among audiences. In this case, it’s “The Dance,” a constipated joy-fueled frolic Carell is made to do repeatedly throughout the film, as if the filmmakers are sure it will eventually get a laugh. Every element in the film is delivered like a product on an assembly line, all the way down to the final climactic ark sequence, tailor-made to inspire an Evan Almighty ride at a theme park near you!

Oddly enough, this film is an inferior version of The Astronaut Farmer, a similar family film that tanked earlier this year. They have identical premises—dad is called to build a device that will take him on a profound journey, while his family reluctantly helps, neighbors shoot befuddled stares, and government heads twirl their villainous mustaches. Yes, the message of Astronaut isn’t as noble as that of Almighty (follow your dream as opposed to God’s plan), but it’s ten times more funny, original, and provocative.

What saves Evan Almighty from being an utter disaster is Carell himself. No actor, however miraculous, should be sentenced with a role like this, and he plays his character inconsistencies (he’s a jerk one moment, a family man the next) and embarrassing physical comedy (shaving his nostrils) with a skill and wit that is totally delightful. His performance is so earnest, especially in the late dramatic scenes, that it’s clear he made the film for his kids, and this is one family film that provides passably silly entertainment without falling into the depths of vulgarity and cynicism (take that, Shrek 3!).

Other actors also manage to emerge unscathed, such as “Gilmore Girls’” ever-misused Lauren Graham (who brings a delicate touch to her maddeningly thankless role as Evan’s wife), Morgan Freeman (phoning in George Burns-style cuteness, yet still managing to charm), and the truly hilarious Jonah Hill (the scene-stealing young member of Judd Apatow’s ensemble, whose seemingly improvised riffs as a White House intern provide perhaps the only real laughs in the movie).

These performances, joined with the truly remarkable cast of animals, make this abominable sequel more tolerable than it has any right to be. It may go down as a notorious bomb, yet undiscriminating family audiences will find themselves more or less entertained (or at least the really small kids). And considering Carell’s next project—About a Boy writer Peter Hedges’s Dan in Real Life co-starring Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, and Dianne Wiest—it’s clear the film gods have bigger and brighter plans for their chosen king of comedy…and it’s not starring in Evan Almighty 2.

Rating: ** (out of *****)