Whether or not you believe in Him, it’s a neat way to explore the notion of Free Will — or more specifically, our own culpability for our earthly lot. Shadyac revisits this profitable concept in , which swaps a once-hip comic (Carrey) for a still-hip one (Steve Carell). But before the film can properly begin, Shadyac must iron out the back story.
In the opening five minutes, we’re asked to accept that since the last film, Carell’s character has gone from being a smarmy, doltish news anchor to a crusading U.S. Before you can yell “Continuity error!
” Evan, his wife (Lauren Graham of ) and their three sons have shuffled out of Buffalo to live in a shiny new McMansion in a Virginia suburb called Prestige Crest. Almost immediately, the new congressman is asked to co-sponsor a bill with Congressman Long (John Goodman) that would designate some previously public land for private use, thus allowing developers to build more sterile suburbs. While Evan is eager to play along, he is besieged by weird portents.
First, it’s the inexplicable delivery of a box of tools; then, unwanted shipments of lumber. Speaking in an elliptical way — as only He can — God commands Evan to build an ark to weather an upcoming flood. Evan is understandably dubious about the plan.
That is, until he is stalked by a variety of animal species — birds, skunks, tarantulas, bears, deer, you name it — and involuntarily grows a flowing white beard. I don’t think I’m the only one to have misgivings about where such a premise might lead. After all, the Great Flood in the original Old Testament parable was God’s way of washing away Earth’s sinners and starting the human race anew — nothin’ funny about that.
Freeman’s God is teed off, but more sanguine than his biblical counterpart. In one montage, he shows Evan a breathtaking, verdant valley, which turns out to be the land near Evan’s home before it was razed to become Prestige Crest. The environmental message gives the film a greater heft than its predecessor, which asked us (unsuccessfully) to sympathize with one petty, self-absorbed fool.
Whether or not you believe in Him, it’s a neat way to explore the notion of Free Will — or more specifically, our own culpability for our earthly lot.
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