[Alex Murphy]

...as God (Morgan Freeman, reprising his role from the decidedly un-family friendly "Bruce Almighty) tells Evan: The Noah story isn't meant to be read literally. And besides, He says, people miss the point of it anyway. It's not about God's anger. It's actually a love story about believing in each other. That may come as news to the evangelicals being asked to see the movie.

[mnehring]

The movie's message about changing the world by practicing "acts of random kindness" (which is an acronym for ARK, get it?) would feel a lot more genuine if "Evan" had cost, say a 10th of its final budget and had those involved plowed the rest of the money into various charitable causes. As it stands, the excessive "Evan" suffers from an affliction almost as old as the Bible — Hollywood hypocrisy.

Can't people just enjoy a movie any more instead of trying to psycoanalyize everything or add moral weight?

[wideawake]

The movie is being marketed to believers.

The message is:

(1) God and the Bible are nice, as long as you don't take them too seriously and

(2) God's primary concerns are the environment and the excessive use of fossil fuels.

[BibChr]

...The Noah story isn't meant to be read literally. And besides, He says, people miss the point of it anyway. It's not about God's anger. It's actually a love story about believing in each other

Whaaaaa....?

Is that meant to be read literally?

[theDentist]

I’ll see it sometime. I like Morgan Freeman, and I think him portraying the Almighty is a good match.

[aft_lizard]

I will wait to watch it since Bruce Almighty sucked. Although I did like Carrel as Evan Baxter in Bruce Almighty( I don’t know if it’s the same character reprised) usually those type of characters don’t do well on there own. Also the fact that they are trying to pimp the movie to the biblical crowd tells me that they don’t think the movie will do well.

[Frumanchu]

No thanks. Lipstick on a pig. Hollywood isn’t fooling anyone trying to pass themselves off as compatible with Biblical Christianity.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Steve Carrell is hilarious. The “40-year-old virgin” should be mandatory viewing.

[Salvation]

Doesn't look too impressive:

MOVIEGUIDE REVIEW: EVAN ALMIGHTYQuality: * * * *
Acceptability: +1

EVAN ALMIGHTY stars Steve Carell as Evan Baxter, the anchorman from BRUCE ALMIGHTY. Evans moves his wife and three sons to Washington, D.C., where Evan will serve as a new U.S. Congressman. Evan prays to change the world, so God appears and tells Evan to build an ark, because there will be a flood coming on Sept. 22. God puts Evan into all sorts of predicaments, forcing Evan to announce what God has told him. This makes Evan the laughingstock of the nation. God’s plans, however, eventually bless everyone.

EVAN ALMIGHTY is a cute, funny and heartwarming family movie with a thrilling ending that makes up for the movie’s theological mis-steps. Steve Carell is wonderfully ditzy as the object of God’s direct affection and attention. Although EVAN ALMIGHTY has strong biblical references, it also has some scatological humor and theological problems. In particular, the movie does not make it clear that, when God appears in human form, he always appears as Jesus Christ as noted in John 1. Still, it is more family friendly than BRUCE ALMIGHTY, so it is a more suitable movie for older children.

For the complete review of EVAN ALMIGHTY, and other current movies, visit http://www.movieguide.org.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children to adults
RATING: PG
RELEASE: June 22, 2007
TIME: 95 minutes

STARRING: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, John Michael Higgins, Jimmy Bennett, and Wanda Sykes

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures