EVAN ALMIGHTY **½

This film supposedly cost over $200 million and its distributor (Universal) is scared to death it will loose a bundle. It's basically a sequel of Bruce Almighty without Jim Carey but with a boatload of animals. Featured in the cast are: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, and Wanda Sykes.

The plot is relatively straightforward. Carell is a freshman congressman who's tapped by God to build an Ark in preparation for a flood. Of course Carell fights the idea and his wife (Graham) and his kids take their leave for awhile in protest of his Biblical appearance and actions. But, build an Ark he does along with the eventual help of his family and a few of the thousands of animals that make an appearance. Along the way he gets regularly covered with bird poo which loses its humor rather quickly.

When I first started in theatre management the Billy Graham organization used to run religiously themed movies in local theatres. That's pretty much what this picture reminds me of. It starts out as an offbeat comedy but segues fairly rapidly into a preachy religious film. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you understand that's what you're going to see and are OK with it. It's mildly entertaining family fare but definitely a message film. Carey is fine although not hilarious and Goodman is great as an oily "out for a buck" Congressman. Freeman is fine as God and Sykes is Sykes. The disappointment to me was Graham, who is not given a role where she can shine but is basically limited to the portrayal of a dutiful spouse and mother. She's a good actress with terrific comedic timing and deserves better. Incidentally, the original script title was The Passion Of The Ark, which I'm obliged to say is much funnier than this film.