Last week, I posted a preview of Evan Almighty laying out what I thought Carell would have to do in order to hold his ground against Jim Carrey in the movie’s predecessor, Bruce Almighty. Carell didn’t get my memo.
Reviews for the movie started coming in Friday extremely low, with Rotten Tomatoes averaging it a dismal 20%. Needless to say, I had my reservations about spending money to watch the movie.
But I said to myself, “Lykaon, your readers want a bad review — go watch it!” So I did, telling myself that if nothing else I’d have Lauren Graham.
The first half of the movie was a jumbled mess. We’re introduced to Evan Baxter as if we don’t already know who he is, and what’s worse — he’s not the same man he was in the first movie. Sure he looks the same, but he’s not the arrogant prick he was in the first.
Carell takes the first half of the movie and does exactly what I warned him not to do — he tries to channel Jim Carrey. Obviously, he fails. In order to be Jim Carrey your face has to be made of rubber, which Carell’s is not.
The relationship he has with his family is painful to watch, as if they’re all a little bit scared of each other and Lauren Graham might just throw up if she has to kiss Carell on the lips.
The movie gets its feet about halfway through where Carell seems to calm down and rely a bit more on his cynicism and sarcasm for some of the jokes. Unfortunately, this is just too little too late to save the movie from itself.
Lauren Graham and John Goodman are a waste of good talent, getting mediocre roles that hardly do them any justice. Coming out of Gilmore Girls, Graham needs to pick better roles if she hopes to survive in Hollywood.
Despite the mediocrity, there are three bright spots in the movie: Morgan Freeman, Wanda Sykes, and animals.
Morgan Freeman brings the same charm to playing the Almighty that he brought in the first one, and he certainly does his best to make lemonade out of lemons with his appearances. Many of the sight gags that work are related to Freeman’s character (such as a name tag “Al Mighty” when he poses as a waiter in a roadside restaurant).
Wanda Sykes actually says stuff that makes you chuckle and thats more than can be said for the rest of the cast. Kudos to her for managing to stand out in a movie where other good actors are stifled.
And the animals. Alpaca and monkeys are just always funny. They have been since the dawn of time, and they will be until the apocalypse.
Jim Carrey must be laughing, having dodged three bullets in his career with Son of the Mask, Dumb and Dumberer, and now Evan Almighty. Note to future Hollywood comedians: If Jim Carrey won’t touch it, neither should you.
As much of a mess as the movie was, the low expectations helped to make it much more bearable than I think it would have otherwise been. Although I consider Shrek 3 to be a bigger failure, Evan Almighty sits in a close second for the summer.
Verdict: C-