Evan Almighty (2007)

God contacts Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers:

Steve Oedekerk (screenplay), Steve Oedekerk (story)

Stars:

Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham

2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Carell	...	Evan Baxter
Morgan Freeman	...	God
Lauren Graham	...	Joan Baxter
Johnny Simmons	...	Dylan Baxter
Graham Phillips	...	Jordan Baxter
Jimmy Bennett	...	Ryan Baxter
John Goodman	...	Congressman Long
Wanda Sykes	...	Rita
John Michael Higgins	...	Marty
Jonah Hill	...	Eugene
Molly Shannon	...	Eve Adams
Harve Presnell	...	Congressman Burrows
P.J. Byrne	...	Evan's Staffer
Ralph Louis Harris	...	Evan's Staffer (as Ralph Harris)
Arden Myrin	...	Evan's Staffer

Storyline

Buffalo newsman Evan Baxter is elected to Congress with the slogan, "Change the world." He lucks into a huge house in a new Virginia suburb. His Capitol office is also fantastic, but there's a catch: he's tapped by the powerful Congressman Long to co-sponsor a bill to allow development in national parks. In steps God, who appears to a disbelieving Evan and gently commands him to build an ark. Tools and wood arrive in Evan's yard, animal pairs follow, his beard and hair grow wildly, nomad's clothes and a staff appear. Long grows impatient, Evan starts building, his family leaves him, reporters gather, and drought grips D.C. Still, Evan believes. But will he change the world?

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Plot Keywords:

ark | congressman | change | flood | depiction of god | 

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Taglines:

Why are all of these animals following Evan Baxter? God only knows.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild rude humor and some peril

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both John Michael Higgins and P.J. Byrne went on to voice characters who worked closely together in the animated series The Legend of Korra.

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Goofs

The idea that a committee chair can "fire" an elected Representative is entirely false. A chair could kick a member off a committee, but only the entire House has the power to expel a Representative. As an elected Representative, no one has the power to "suspend" a member other than expulsion, which requires a floor vote of the entire House. Also, one does not "commit censure," as Chairman Long says; censure is a punishment applied to members short of expelling them, which the entire House has to vote to approve. Evan's behavior may have merited either censure or expulsion, but Long can't do either of those acts on his own, and certainly can't "fire" Evan from Congress.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Susan Ortega: And that's the news. But before we sign off, we'd like to thank our very own Evan Baxter, who has just been elected Buffalo's representative to Congress. And now we have a surprise for Evan.
Evan Baxter: No, you don't.
Susan Ortega: We do.
Evan Baxter: Oh, no. I really didn't expect this.
Susan Ortega: Here's a look back at his run for office.

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Crazy Credits

The Department of Homeland Security's cooperation and assistance does not reflect an endorsement of the contents of the film or the treatment of the characters therein.

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Connections

References The Santa Clause (1994)

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Soundtracks

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
Written by Robert Clivillés and Freedom Williams
Performed by C+C Music Factory (as C & C Music Factory)
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Did you say comedy

Did some one say comedy... this cannot be categorized as a pure comedy and it doesn't come under the cadre of Bruce Almighty and Steve Carell though he tried hard is not match to Jim Carrey. This is not a pure comedy and has its own emotional scenes to counter your comic feelings while watching the movie..... Buy your popcorn and drink before you go to the movie and don't expect to have a pain in your gut because you don't do any big laughing exercise in it. Still it has kept with its pace, being a smaller movie of less than 100 minutes adds to its advantage.

It has a good script and quite a happy feeling at the end of the movie... It is good to see these kind of movies as a family outing and feel good when you see your family members smiling after the movie.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Paramount [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bruce: The Second Coming

Filming Locations:

Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$175,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,192,615, 24 June 2007

Gross USA:

$100,462,298

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$174,440,724

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1