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EVAN ALMIGHTY

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Comedy
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Wanda Sykes, Lauren Graham, Jimmy Bennett, John Goodman, John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon, Jonah Hill, Ed Helms
Director: Tom Shadyac
Rating: PG
Year Made: 2007

 

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- The Ark-itects of Noah's Ark
- Becoming Noah
- Steve Carell Unscripted
- Animals On-set Two-by-two
- The Almighty Green Set
- It's Easy Being Green
- Acts of Random Kindness
- Easter Eggs

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/Thai/Japanese
Subtitles: English/Thai
Korean/Cantonese/Japanese
Mandarin Traditional/Indonesian
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
Region Code: NTSC 3
Distributor: Berjaya HVN

 

 

SYNOPSIS:   

Evan Almighty is a comedy for all ages that stars Steve Carell as Junior Congressman Evan Baxter whose wish is to "change the world" is heard by none other than God. When God appears with the perplexing request to build a ark, Evan is sure he is losing it. But soon, mysterious deliveries of wood and tools are bring dropped on his doorstep, animals of every shape and size are flocking to him two by two and his self-absorbed life goes from overnight success to almighty mess!

MOVIE REVIEW

Ah, so now we know there are moments when Steve Carell isn’t funny. Sure, he tickled our funny bones real hard as Andy Stitzer in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) and a suicidal uncle in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). Even the hyperactive squirrel he voiced in the animation feature Over the Hedge (2006) made us laugh till we cried. But his reprisal of role from the successful Tom Shadyac-directed Bruce Almighty (2003) falls so flat, the movie becomes a drag.

The idea sounds amusing on paper: God (yes, the big guy with the big “G” up there) gets in touch with Carell’s junior congressman Evan Baxter and instructs him to build an ark to house two of every animal species because a terrible flood would be arriving soon. And the newly-elected politician only has himself to blame, because his motto is a self-righteous “Change the World”. As expected, chaos ensues.

It was amusing to see the signs sent by God to the unsuspecting Baxter initially: alarms going off at 6:14am (Genesis Chapter 6:14 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch”), the mysterious blocks of wood sent to his house, and the animals that flock to Baxter in pairs. But some 20 minutes into the 95-minuet movie, everything becomes predictable, from Baxter’s gradual neglect of his family, Baxter’s nonsensical beard and robe (he’s today’s Noah, remember?) to the townsfolk’s disbelief at Baxter’s project and the eventual flood that makes everyone scramble onto the ark Baxter painstakingly built.

Apparently, a lot of money has been put into this movie, making it the most expensive comedy ever made. The actors’ big fat paychecks aside, the hordes of animals, the massive ark and the great flood probably took up most of the budget. Yet, the movie turned out so unfunny that even kids may be left uninterested at the dull antics the comedy has to offer (Birds pooping on Baxter’s head? Robes being stuffed into Baxter’s working suit? We didn’t think such sights would be very funny).

And whatever happened to Carell? His deadpan expressions do not help the comedy to move forward, although we give credit to his willingness to mix around with the animals. Morgan Freeman’s God isn’t that rib-tickling with his perpetual smug look either.

But the movie gets points for its good-natured feel; because this is definitely one movie which has no intentions other than make us chuckle, even if there are only one or two throughout its entire duration.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

As if to make up for the lackluster movie, this Code 3 DVD contains quite a substantial amount of bonus features. Some segments come with a short introduction from Carell in front of the movie’s promotional standee.

There are about 15 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” that did not make it to the final cut of the film. Watch out for one hilarious scene where Carell shaves and picks out every strand of facial hair, including those in the nose – ouch!

The three-minute “Outtakes” section sees funny moments captured during the shooting of the scenes, including accidental farts, wrongly recited lines and repeated goofy expressions by Carell himself.

“The Ark-itects of Noah’s Ark” is a seven-minute feature where the cast and crew talked about building the massive ark. The inspiration apparently came from children’s books so that the look of the ark can be appealing to everyone. The cost of building a real ark is also apparently lower than making one using computer graphics.

“Becoming Noah” is a six-minute clip about hair makeup on Carell. Storyboards were drawn for the different stages, and Carell just had to sit there patiently with the makeup artiste Dave Anderson for four to six hours before shooting commences every morning.

Carell makes us chuckle again in the three-minute “Steve Carell Unscripted” where his crazy antics during shooting made everyone on set laugh. The sight of the actor inviting the dog to bite his, err, crotch, is priceless.

In the 13-minute “Animals on Set Two by Two”, the cast and crew talk about the feat of having the most number of animals in showbiz history. For the record, it’s over 200 different animals over 75 different species. Poor Carell, he was screeched at, pooped and spitted on by the animals during shooting.

“The Almighty Green Set” is a five-minute clip which touches on environmental conservation. Director Shadyac believes in not leaving footprints behind after filming is complete: He actually bought bicycles for everyone, planted trees at the end of the shoot and encouraged everyone to save the Earth. Such nobility, we say.

“It’s Easy Being Green” is another five-minute clip which tells you how to save Mother Nature. The cast dishes tips like buying fresh food instead of buying frozen ones, bringing your own coffee mug to coffee joints and using papers instead of Styrofoam. A very educational clip indeed.

The two-minute “Acts of Random Kindness” is a short interview montage where the cast and crew talk about their experiences with kind people who have helped opened the door for them, send small messages to make them feel good and giving them words of encouragement.

How can we not have a feature on the visual effects of the movie? The seven-minute “A Flood of Visual Effects” takes a look at how realistic-looking water was created. This is where the geeks talk about their achievements creating the flood with their computers.

The Easter Egg “Casting Call: Serengeti” is a cute little piece where you see the casting director talking to, err, animals, and asking them to show their teeth, sit up and move a few steps to the left. Oh, he uses a loudspeaker to talk to the wild beasts.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The disc’s visual transfer is clear enough to make us differentiate between the different species of animals, as well as be blown away by the massive flood. There are audio options of English, Japanese and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1.

MOVIE RATING:



DVD RATING :

Review by John Li

 
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. Freedom Writers

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. Man Of The Year

. Napoleon Dynamite

. Flushed Away

. Coach Carter


. Children Of Men

. Barnyard

. World Trade Centre


. Accepted


. Nacho Libre


. Stay Alive

. Miami Vice


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. M:I:3

. Over The Hedge

. The Break-Up

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. Bring It On All Or Nothing

. Aeon Flux

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. Four Brothers


. War Of The Worlds

. Munich


. Two for the Money

. King Kong

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. Surviving Christmas

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. Madagascar

 


This review is made possible with the kind support from HVN Berjaya

 


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