Evan Almighty and the cynical, secular critics

It was written by a perfectly capable Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Jimmy Neutron, Nutty Professor I & II, Patch Adams, and the underrated Nothing To Lose). It was directed by a consistent Tom Shadyac (Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Ace Ventura). It has an endless cast of top-notch performers (Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon, and probably the only guy in movie history to recommend having supervision when/if you ever perform autoerotic self-asphyxiation, Jonah Hill. Go see Knocked Up.)

After seeing review after review after review of tearing the movie apart, I wondered how a great cast and crew could really make such a stinker. Especially a movie that seemed to be even more Godly and Biblical than Bruce Almighty, with a powerful environmental overtone. Hollywood is still pro-environment, right? Steve Carell bearded and robed! With a staff! How could it get a 22% at Rotten Tomatoes, a site that compiles reviews from around the world? I had a feeling of cynical secularism in the reviews, and I was right.

Julie and I saw it today, and I have to say the critics are full of crap. It is not a "22%". After about 30 minutes into the movie, you realize that this isn't supposed to be 40-Year-Old Virgin or Wedding Crashers (duh). In fact, they never really try to get you rolling on the floor (I did laugh pretty hard when Evan explains his long hair and beard with, "My wife is a big Loggins and Messina fan".) I know funny, and I know trying to be funny (but not funny), and I know lighthearted comedy wrapped in a positive message. It is a family movie, much more than Bruce Almighty. Which baffles me how critics can call it "adolescent". When it was all over, I realized the message of this movie is for kids...because adults are assholes and will scoff at the movie even if it had tits and ass. Adults are the ones that choose materialism over environment. While it is fun all the way through, it still gets serious pretty fast and never quits. It isn't that the jokes miss, it's that there aren't many jokes. Which is fine, because it isn't that kind of movie.

Bruce Almighty got better reviews, but still not great (a 49% at R.T.). One major difference between Bruce and Evan, is that Evan turns the tables and puts the Bible in your face. It asks, "Are you in the flock that laughs at and ridicules Evan?" (It almost answers for you, especially with the way we treat the world.) Would you be destroyed by the flood? What if God came to you, and asked you to do something spectacular, knowing that you could look foolish and that society would persecute you? You could resist and fit in, knowing the spiritual consequences of "fitting in". You know what has been asked of you. You know what you have to do.