World Famous Comics: Evan Almighty (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Evan Almighty (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, Johnny Simmons, Graham Phillips Directed By: Tom Shadyac Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: HD DVD Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen Label: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Release Date: October 09, 2007 Running Time: 96 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 2007
Product Description: Universal Evan Almighty - HD-DVD/DVD Combo Funnyman SteveCarell is at his hilarious best when his simple wish to change the world turns into a baffling request from God (Morgan Freeman) and turns his seemingly perfect life upside down. With the help of hisfamily and a comical cast of animals, Evan's unbelievable adventure leads to laugh-out-loud hilarity.
Amazon.com:
Steve Carell rides the wave of 40-Year-Old Virgin stardom (and a biblical flood) in this bizarre, effects-heavy comedy about a modern-day Noah's ark. The film is nominally a sequel to Bruce Almighty, although it bears little relation to the 2003 Jim Carrey hit--except for the divine intervention of Morgan Freeman, who returns in his role as God. Even Carell's character is much altered from his supporting part in the first film; here, Evan Baxter says goodbye to the news-anchoring business in favor of his job as a naive freshman congressman. When God orders him to build an ark and prepare for an impending inundation, Evan sheepishly takes on the task (it's hard to turn down the job when your hair and beard grow to Old Testament lengths and God wants you to walk around in sackcloth).
Carell gets to do silly dances and mix it up with a variety of animals (real and computer-generated), all of which reminds us of the film's family-friendly tone and the PG rating. The kid stuff works just fine, although the religio-environmental message-mongering makes this a most curious kind of Hollywood blockbuster. When the flood comes, the film shifts into a mammoth-sized CGI extravaganza, recalling the era of overstuffed techno-comedies such as 1941 and Howard the Duck (and not to be nit-picky, but the tsunami-like disaster that overtakes Washington, D.C., looks as though it would snuff out the lives of quite a few citizens). Capable comic support comes from John Michael Higgins, Wanda Sykes, and Jonah Hill, with John Goodman and Lauren Graham filling out stock roles of fatcat politico and loyal wife, respectively. Carell is even better at being sincere than being funny, a talent that comes in handy here and bodes well for his future versatility. --Robert Horton
The most preposterous, ridiculous, ENJOYABLE film I've seen in a long time From a "logical" point of view, the plot of this movie is preposterous. But if you have retained any portion of that "kid" inside you, you can enjoy this film right along with the "real" kids in the family.
As unwatchable as a movie can get I love both Lauren Graham (memo to Hollywood: put her in SOMETHING, please!) and Steve Carrell so I figured this movie couldn't be that bad. But it was. I can honestly say that this is a movie completely devoid of wit or intelligence. My friend and I are both fans of Carrell and especially Graham, but just over the halfway point we were in misery. We finally skipped to the final two chapters on the DVD just to see how it ended, but all in all it was a pretty tortorous experience.
I'm becoming increasingly concerned about Steve Carrell's movie career. I've been a fan of his for a long time. In fact, I saw him on stage years before he ever appeared on TV or in movies, as part of Second City in Chicago, where he did an incredibly memorable impersonation of Fabio (in the previous scene he'd been wearing a suit, so he merely took off jacket and shirt, put on a long wig, and stood in front of a fan that would blow his hair back). I followed him with joy on The Daily Show, liked him in his various supporting film roles leading up to THE OFFICE and THE FORTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN, and have seen most if not all of his movies. But let's face it: his movies of late have been absolutely miserable experiences. In fact, of the movies that I've seen in the last year, the two worst just might be EVAN ALMIGHTY and DAN IN REAL LIFE. The last movie that I can say that I genuinely enjoyed that he was in was LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.
Lauren Graham, where are you? For most of this decade Lauren Graham was my favorite actress on TV. I honestly think she is the finest comic actress in the history of TV (yes, I like her more than Lucille Ball). Since the end of THE GILMORE GIRLS I've wanted in vain for her reemergence. And her movie roles have been far too few. I liked BAD SANTA and that was about it. Hollywood needs to find a new vehicle for her considerable talents. Unfortunately, based on EVAN ALMIGHTY you wouldn't think she had any.
Frankly, I'm really unhappy about the state of comedy in Hollywood right now. I personally don't care for the films of the Judd Apatow collective (too much sophomoric humor; not enough genuine wit; no romance to speak of, as was the case in the great screwball comedies of the past) and I think they've exerted an unhealthy influence on comedy as a whole. The only comedic film of the past year that I have enjoyed was JUNO (which I enjoyed very much indeed). My favorite film genre is the romantic comedy, but there simply have been no great romantic comedies in recent years. Broad, unfunny farces like EVAN ALMIGHTY seems to be all that we get. Hollywood needs to find the new Meg Ryan and get their comedic rear end back into gear.
I know this is getting some good reviews here, but I can't imagine any serious movie buff finding this to be anything but awful. The film critics universally blasted this. If you have seen a very large number of movies (the kind of person who has watched a couple of hundred a year for several years), it is just impossible to enjoy this movie. If you are a more casual watcher of movies, averaging only a few dozen a year, the film might dupe you. Be warned.
Pure Comedy! "Evan Almighty" is an entertaining flick in which a U. S. Congressman, played by Steve Carell, who is personally contacted by God, (aren't they all), portrayed by Morgan Freeman, who instructs him to build an Ark. That is the unusual part. John Goodman is excellent in a supporting role as the Committee Chairman who tries to use Evan's vote until Evan finally gets too weird for the Chairman's taste. Laugh your way through the rest of the movie while Evan gradually and reluctantly accepts his fate and deals with its bizarre demands. This is a great movie for anyone looking for 96 minutes of pure comedy.
Very entertaining movie I really enjoyed very much this movie. Is a comedy that the whole family can watch and at the same time is an uplifting movie. It's a pity that the format is 2.35, I really hate those black bars, the only reason which I didn't buy it. But every time I have a chance to watch it on HBO High Definition I do, it looks gorgeous on my 46 inch TV. I really are not in favor of those that predicate that movies should be seen as they were intended to be seen by the director. This a commercial movie and not an art film where maybe the composition of the frame is what makes the movie a masterpiece. This just a plain movie to enjoy, and not to see it halfscreen instead of widescreen. HBO has the right view, this is more entertainment than art. Wish the directors would choose to film their movies in 1.85 so that at last we could get rid of the black bars. Anyhow this is a very good and entertaining comedy that I highly recomend.
The Weirdo With A Beardo Word To The Wise: Watch the trailer for the gist and most of the "comedy" then come in the movie when the flood happens. You'll save yourself almost and hour and a half, and wonder what idiot movie exec let the budget for this mess rise above 75 million.
First off, this is supposed to be a comedy. The result is a movie where most, if not all, of the humor comes from Steve Carell, but even he can't sugar-coat most of this poorly written dialogue. And while Jonah Hill and JMH provide a few laughs, they are tossed to make room for Wanda Sykes. Now, she was already overrated, but in this movie she give a killing performance that just screams razzie. I didn't find myself laughing at any of her crap "jokes." And again, they're just trying SO hard to be funny, it ends up laughable, but in a bad sort of way.
Steve Carell is given the unfortunate job of carrying this movie on his shoulders, and even though he does a good job for most of the movie, the character could have been interchangeable for most of the movie. Lauren Graham makes a good mother, but again, a poorly written character. And John Goodman just sinks lower and lower with every role he plays, and this one is no exception.
The story isn't that great. A bit predictable and a bit too long, even though it's a short movie. But when it anti-climaxes at the flood, it's a fun and enjoyable ride complete with great effects and some interesting symbolism. But that lasts for what, all about five minutes?
As for it's family-friendliness, it's a little confused. While it does have plenty of predictable, but nice messages for the whole family and all those annoying/cute/CGI animals running around, it does stumble. Most glaring of these unfriendly errors is when Carell says if the flood isn't a "Water-Type Flood," he'll be "Pi$$ed." That's really nice for the little ones. And then you're half expecting for somebody to get struck down when they keep saying OMG. Sure, these little gaffs won't offend most, but if the movie is marketing to a primarily Christian family audience, you have to keep the questionable stuff out.
So overall, Steve Carell plays the role of Atlas in this movie, carrying the whole film on his shoulders. Unfortunately, you can only do so much with bad writing. And there's plenty in this movie. From the pathetic excuse at comedy from Wanda Sykes, a story that annoys you more than anything, and a few language gaffs that could have been avoided. So wait till the Starz Bunnies cut this down to 30-seconds, because they'll have more laughs than this films does, and it'll be much more entertaining.
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