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DVD
REVIEW: Evan Almighty

10/06/07

Can you “Change the world”?
According to God (Morgan Freeman) you can start by simply
doing acts of random kindness. Evan Baxter (Steve Carell)
needed to learn that lesson. He also needed and was heavily
persuaded to build an ark for the coming flood. The what? In
the 21st century? But in the Bible God said He would
never do that again? Well....
Honestly, I heard so much negativity surrounding this
project and its wasted hefty budget that I went in with low
expectations. Heck, I even tried not to like it but I
couldn’t. I laughed, sympathized, connected,
almost cried, cheered, and applauded at the end. It is a
pleasantly charming and inspiring modern day version of one
of the oldest stories in the Old Testament, with a twist of
course. When I first heard about
this movie I really thought the story line was going to be
dull, thus ruining it. Director/Producer Tom Shadyac (Liar
Liar, Bruce Almighty, The Nutty Professor) made sure that
didn’t happen. There was beauty
in the nature, beauty in the animals, beauty in the ark,
beauty in the family, beauty in the comedy, and beauty in
the faith. The story was true to its source too. From the
ark and animals to the beard and robes to the ridicule and
incredulity of the people, I was not disappointed. I think
even the true Almighty One would be satisfied. By the
way, an 80’ W x 60’ H x 275’ L ark replica was built in the
production of this
movie, which is unheard of in the age of computer graphics.
Granted, many may argue that this Almighty is not
better than when Bruce was tapped, but it is still good.
It’s goode!
Jim Carrey is a tough act to follow, so you have to give
Steve some credit for stepping up to the plate and
delivering. Sure, he might not be Barry Bonds just yet, but
he has a pretty good batting average. Morgan
Freeman as God once again, are you kidding? He is the best
human being to play that all important role since George
Burns in the Oh God movies. John Goodman as a congressman is
quite intimidating. I’m
biased when it comes to Wanda Sykes. Although her character
was mostly pointless, and usually her characters are, it
doesn’t matter. Her delivery of one-liners is just classic.
An impressive fact about this movie is that it was a “green”
production. Given its environmental theme, it would be
contradictory for the production to not follow suit. In
order to balance out the calculated carbon emissions during
production, 2050 trees were planted. In addition, every
piece of material used in the production that could be
salvaged was recycled and donated.
So, can you “Change the world”? Most definitely. You can
either “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou
make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with
pitch.” —Genesis 6:14, or start
with some acts of random kindness. If you need some
inspiration, go see Evan Almighty.
Film
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1 aspect ratio)
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish
5.1 Dolby Digital and French Dolby Digital2.0
Subtitles - English SDH, Spanish,
French
BONUS FEATURES:
Commentary by director Tim Story
Commentary by producer Avi Arad,
writer Don Payne and film editors Peter S. Elliot and
William Hoy
Deleted Scenes and Outtakes:12 Minutes
The Building of Noah ’s Ark :
Go behind the scenes and follow the building of the ark from
its beginning as an artist’s rendering to its final
construction. Steve Carell provides comedic insight on the
process.
Steve Carell
Unscripted: In this hilarious improvised stand-up
routine on Capitol Hill, Steve Carell shows us what the
ancient tools were “really” used for and how he made friends
with all the animals.
Becoming Noah:
Spend some time in hair,
wardrobe and makeup with Steve Carell and see what it takes
to transform from Evan to Noah.
Training the Animals: Head
animal trainer Mark Forbes and his team of animal experts
teach us what it takes to get a “perfect take” from animals
on set.
Interactive Ark Animals Game:
Fun for the whole family, this interactive game has the
player collecting the animals two by two, answering trivia
questions before the floodwaters rise.
Environment-Friendly Set:
Director Tom Shadyac, Morgan Freeman and Habitat for
Humanity’s Ryan Jacobi talk about the efforts taken on set
to make this an environmentally efficient production.
Designing the Visual Effects: The
designers at ILM and Rhythm & Hues demonstrate how they
created the computer-generated sequences.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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Director: Tom Shadyac
Writer: Steve Oedekerk (Screenplay)
Steve Koren (Character)
Mark O'Keefe (Character)
Genre:
Comedy
Duration: 1hr 35mins
Staring:
Steve Carell
Morgan Freeman
Lauren Graham
John Goodman
John Michael Higgins
Jimmy Bennett
Wanda Sykes
Jonah Hill
Producer:
Tom Shadyac
Gary Barber
Roger Birnbaum
Neal H. Moritz
Michael Bostick
Distributor: UNIVERSAL
pICTURES
Rating:
PG
Release Date: October 9, 2007
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