Director: Tom Shadyac
Writer: Steve Oedekerk
Cinematographer: Ian Baker
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, Wanda Sykes
Studio/Running Time: Universal Pictures, 95 min.
“Get on the boat, people.
Get on the boat now.
We got room for a hundred more.
Good God!
-Prince “Get On The Boat”
Oh, God! Just when you thought it was safe to picture a supreme being in your own fashion, Hollywood brings its power of persuasion to give you its version of the Great Almighty. Who could forget George Burns’ three takes on the immaculate perspective? (Lord knows I’ve tried.) And how about Alanis Morissette as an all-powerful goofball in Dogma? And now Morgan Freeman reprises his GQ-cool role in Evan Almighty, though His Holiness appears to have aged a bit since Bruce Almighty.
Evan Baxter, as you may remember, was the obnoxious news anchor in the first Almighty. But he is a kinder, gentler soul in this film. In fact, he has just been elected to Congress on the incredibly “original” platform of wanting to change the world. God hears Evan’s prayer, but the change He has in mind is of biblical proportions. Turns out there is a flood on the way, and Evan will play the part of Noah. Soon the sight gags come “flooding” in – a load of gopher wood and some ancient tools are dropped on Evan’s doorstep, plus a Dummies book on ark building, and, of course, numerous pairs of animals. We’ve seen it all before though, in the aforementioned films and others, including Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Doolittle.
Speaking of seeing it all before, Lauren Graham plays the freaked-out wife who leaves but comes back—just like Bobbie Landers (Terri Garr) in Oh, God!. John Goodman plays the evil senior congressman, much like Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. And everyone plays straight man to Wanda Sykes’ rapid-fire one-liners—just like every other film Sykes does.
But before you think it might be a long time before a studio pulls this kind of shameless rehashing once more, think again. Next year’s remake of Oh, God! is currently in production.