Evan Almighty

Lightning doesn't strike twice in this semi-sequel to the Jim Carrey vehicle Bruce Almighty (which, frankly, wasn't all that good to begin with). Here, the Almighty—once again played an avuncular Morgan Freeman—chooses newscaster-turned-politician Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to make His point. A preening, posturing, newly elected congressman, Evan no sooner moves his family to a tony suburb outside D.C., when his life is turned topsy-turvy: God asks him to build an ark. Not surprisingly, Evan begins attracting animals (in pairs, natch), and—just like a certain biblical forebear—starts growing facial hair at an alarming rate. Although Evan's dutiful wife (Lauren Graham) and kids pitch in to help, Evan's increasingly bizarre behavior gets him booted out of Congress by the resident bad guy (John Goodman). Of course, everything works out in the end, following a none-too-realistic-looking flood. Unfortunately, Carell mugs and overacts, trying to milk mediocre gags for all they're worth, and he's not alone (although Freeman escapes with his dignity intact, and Wanda Sykes—snapping off corny one-liners—continues to impress). We can only pray that there are no further sequels. Not recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include 15 minutes of deleted scenes, an “Animals on Set Two by Two” featurette (13 min.), “The Ark-Itects of Noah's Ark” production design featurette (7 min.), “Becoming Noah” on hair and makeup for star Steve Carell (7 min.), “A Flood of Visual Effects” (7 min.), the five-minute featurette “The Almighty Green Set” on the eco-friendly aspects of production, “It's Easy Being Green” tips (5 min.), “The Almighty Forest” list of names of tree planters (5 min.), three minutes of outtakes, “Steve Carell Unscripted” outtakes (3 min.), a three-minute “Acts of Random Kindness” segment, “Casting Call: Serengeti” commercials (3 min.), an “Animal Roundup Game,” and trailers. Bottom line: a whopping extras package for an underwhelming comedy.] (E. Hulse)