Evan Almighty - 5

This is an unusual sequel to Bruce Almighty (which I think is a more entertaining film), in that it takes up a colleague of Bruce (Jim Carrey)- Evan (Steve Carell who is the main reason to see this film). Evan has moved on from being news anchor to running for congress and winning on a Change the World campaign. His family, wife (Lauren Graham) and three sons move to Virginia and are adjusting to a different kind of family life. No need to focus on the characters though since this film is very much story driven- using Evan and God (Morgan Freeman) as the main characters to make jokes as well as theological points. While the jokes are PG the theology is decent, although maybe somewhat obscure for those not biblically literate (although there are some pop religion cliches thrown in). God tells Evan to build an ark, which he does and the a legitimate flood does come, sweeping the boat and animals for a coaster-esque ride through DC. Making sure to stay away from too dramatic a catastrophe, the flood drys up quickly and does not kill everyone (no one of note). This film is also interesting as a comedy because it has somewhat of a serious, if not obscure, plot to justify some interesting dialogue about how humans can act in the world for change. These small doses of insight are Tom Shadyac's attempt to make the connection between film and action (the site arkalmighty.com is a place where people can do acts of random kindness- to change the world). As a film it loses its narrative by being distracted by the need for jokes and by eliminating any character development. All this to say it is a good and relevant, but expensive, Sunday school lesson. This film works as a good test to see if we do indeed live in a post-Christian world.