Movies: Evan Almighty

Release Date: June 22
Director: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman

First this looked like the simple validation of Steve Carell's star luster. Two years after The 40 Year Old Virgin surprised the industry with its $100-million-plus box office take, and a year after his appearance in the low-budget Little Miss Sunshine helped propel that indie comedy to robust business and an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, he's taken over the Jim Carrey role in a sequel to Bruce Almighty, with Morgan Freeman playing God again. (This time He warns a mortal of an impending flood, and insists that Evan build an ark and do a Noah.) Then reports trickled in of the film's ballooning budget, due in part to difficulties wrangling two of every nearly every extant species. None of the inside dope should matter to audiences, since the ticket price is the same no matter what the movie cost. If it's funny, it'll be worth it.