Reviews for the movie "Evan Almighty," opening in theaters today, have been largely lackluster. The general consensus is that the talents of Steve Carell and the rest of the cast are largely wasted and the religious theme is somewhat bland. The plot in a nutshell is that Evan Baxer (Carell), recently elected to Congress, is recruited by God (Morgan Freeman) to become a modern-day Noah, building an ark in order to serve humanity on a Biblical scale.
Bruce Newman, reviewing the film for "San Jose's Mercury News," poses a vital question for any serious moviegoer:
One thing that's never clear is whether Evan has been elected to Congress as some kind of Rush-lovin', wilderness despoiling neo-con. And if not, why the first piece of legislation he hitches his star to is a bill that will open the national parks to development. This is boilerplate conservatism, and yet that doesn't seem to be who Evan is.
Neo-cons! Razing forests and mucking up waterways near you.
Let's turn the tables: "One thing that's never clear is whether Evan has been elected to Congress as some kind of Gore-lovin', tree-hugging liberal. And if not, why the first thing he does when he arrives in Washington is to get down on his knees and pray, 'God, please help me change the world.' This is boilerplate liberalism, and yet we aren't sure if that's who Evan is."
Any takers?
