Evan Almighty

Directed by Tom Shadyac, Evan Almighty follows Steve Carell’s Evan Baxter as he’s chosen by God (Morgan Freeman) to build a copy of Noah’s infamous ark. Filmmaker Shadyac, armed with a script by Steve Oedekerk, delivers a hit-and-miss comedy that ultimately fares best within its lighthearted, sporadically funny first half, and there’s little doubt that the picture receives plenty of mileage out of Carell’s affable turn as the likeable central character – with Carell’s often laugh-out-loud funny efforts matched by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Molly Shannon, Jonah Hill, Wanda Sykes, and John Goodman. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that Shadyac has peppered the proceedings with a number of agreeable digressions and set-pieces, with this particularly true of the various less-than-subtle physical changes experienced by Carell’s protagonist.) It’s clear, then, that Evan Almighty‘s overall impact is hindered by an egregiously over-the-top (and CGI-heavy) third act, with the rather anticlimactic bent of this closing stretch ensuring that the picture peters out to a rather regrettable (and palpable) degree – thus cementing the movie’s time as a decent-enough time-waster that admittedly fares better than its lackluster predecessor.

**1/2 out of ****