Evan Almighty (Widescreen Edition)
by Tom Shadyac
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Graham Phillips, Johnny Simmons, Lauren Graham, Morgan Freeman, Steve CarellDirector: Tom Shadyac
Brand: CARELL,STEVE
Producer: Amanda Morgan Palmer
Producer: Dave Phillips
Writer: Alec Sokolow
Writer: Joel Cohen
Writer: Mark O'Keefe
Writer: Steve Koren
Writer: Steve Oedekerk
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
Published: 2007-10-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-09
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Evan Almighty (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Evan Unlikely
Summary: 5 Stars
"The idea has recently arisen," Chesterton wrote, "that if one is moral one cannot be melodramatic." The "recently" he refers to is about 100 years ago, so let me slightly update his phrase to post- modern TV and film. "The idea has recently arisen that if one makes a film for the dreaded "F" genre (family), one cannot be melodramatic. Even Almighty sends that idea packing.
It's not what's in this movie that makes it so good, it's what's left out. No overuse of computerized camera, which makes up the bulk of TV shows like Grays Anatomy, not to mention every movie since the Matrix. From the little I've seen of The Office, I'd say the writing in EA is, if anything better. Why? It's restrained. All art, to quote Chesterton again, is about limits. this genre starts out with the ground rules: you can't say certain things, can't do certain things, can't show certain things. Get anyone creative in there and that's the recipe for great films and TV, not the Fox fomula of everything always edgier, which shows they've learned nothing from not only Chesterton but also Marshall McLuhan (and it's also why despite my love of the medium of TV, I've cut the cable.
Guess what? You don't have to make a one joke movie and tack on an overdone moral on the end like every F genre film from Ferris Beuller to Home Alone. You can actually have some smarts in a film, some-- get ready- metaphysics-- and not leave your brain on the cutting room floor. Now compare this to Dogma. That entire movie could be thrown away except for the spectacular, well- acted, gripping final scene. You can't do that with Evan Almighty. With a subtle, restrained film, you need every frame.
Fox's one contribution to good TV, The Simpsons, broke the ridiculous lockdown on animation and showed you could have fun with it (which is what cartoons are for-- they don't need to go over the edge like later Adult Swim (early AS was brilliantly restrained and zany for all its warnings). EA follows The Simpsons and Groening's even more brilliant Futurama, probably the best animated show ever made, in its witty pop culture innuendo, which in EA is so subtle and restrained one may not even notice it. But note the timing of the Beatles' song, Revolution, or what ARK spells when the divine Morgan Freeman writes in the sand. And having the animals line up in twos and be drawn to Evan as to St. Francis, is a stroke of genius that never gets old.
It's also not another wooden retread of the flood story, but a witty and imaginative twist. Throwing in the outtakes at the end, as with Being There and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, gives viewers what would otherwise be the bonus feature on the DVD. It seems to me an attempt to say, hey watch The Office, as well as sell the hit loaded soundtrack, but it does something wonderful as well. The great thing is that Evan, in the film, is not almighty. the great thing in the outtake is Steve Carell and the gang having fun in an F genre film. This is as unlikely as a flood out of the clear blue, and once it comes, can good TV be far behind? If directors ever learn something from Chesterton and McLuhan, they may even teach an old Fox new tricks, unleashing great writing and unbridled creativity in the now moribund F films and TV. If so, thank Evan.
Summary of Evan Almighty (Widescreen Edition)
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 9-OCT-2007
Media Type: DVD
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