Film Reviews

Evan Almighty

• Rating:
• Director: Tom Shadyac
• Starring: Lauren Graham
• Details: US / 90mins (PG).

It's becoming increasingly obvious that Hollywood's comedy writers have no clue what's funny anymore. Evan Almighty reportedly cost $175 million, which makes it the most expensive comedy ever made, but apart from the admittedly impressive visuals, none of that money found its way into the script, as writers Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen and Alex Sokolow (whose credits include Garfield, Cheaper By The Dozen, Toy Story, Barnyard and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) forgot about the jokes. The only decent gag in the whole show is when Carell, after spotting the tidal wave approaching his ark, exclaims, "We're going to need a bigger boat," which is nicked from Jaws. Like its predecessor Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty sees God (Freeman) approach congressman Evan Baxter (Carell) with a mission - build an ark that will save the animal species from an imminent flood. Build it Evan does, but not before suffering suspicious looks from his family and fellow politicians. Bruce Almighty had a couple of things going for it, but any hope of Evan Almighty living up to that standard are dashed twenty minutes in when you noticed you haven't laughed yet. It's not your fault - there's nothing to laugh at. But hang on. Can Evan Almighty be smarter than it's letting on? Is it in fact an allegory for Hollywood comedies? Bereft of anything original of late, are the writers poking fun at themselves when they have God lacking on the creative front and forced to roll out ye olde ark scenario again? It's thoughts like these that pop into your mind when you're watching such mind-numbing tosh like this.

Review by Gavin Burke