Friday, August 03, 2007

EVAN ALMIGHTY - a mis-marketed film

EVAN ALMIGHTY isn't so much a bad film as a bad comedy. It's just been mis-marketed. The adverts make it look like a Robin Williams-style family comedy. The title makes you think it's going to be an adult romantic-comedy with a goofy every-man magicking his girlfriend's tits bigger. As it turns out there's barely a laugh in the whole ninety minutes. What humour there is consists in birds pooping on people and a few sharp comments from Wanda Sykes. Even the Daily Show sucks in this alternate universe.

So I didn't laugh. But I did rather enjoy the film as a rather hackneyed but nonetheless heart-warming story of personal growth. Steve Carrell plays Evan Baxter, a narcissistic Congressman who's neglecting his wife and three sons and lives in a gated community that was built over a beautiful valley. He's also about to support an evil politician (John Goodman) in his bid to turn protected forests into prime real estate. Then God (Morgan Freeman) asks Evan to build an Ark for the coming flood and Evan discovers the joys of hard work, family bonding and doing the right thing. That's it. It's pretty simple despite the notoriously expensive CGI whistles and bells. But heart-warming and charming all the same.

EVAN ALMIGHTY is available to rent and own.

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