Movie Review: Evan Almighty

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
- Genesis 6:14


Genesis 6:14 begins with God's command to Noah to build an ark of gopher wood (1-800-GO-4-WOOD... hehehe... for those who have watched it... ^_^). In 2007, God has returned in the form of Morgan Freeman to issue this command again, this time to Evan Baxter, played by Steve Carell.

The movie is quite funny and it's rather sweet and gentle too. There's no swearing and no sex. There are a few animal jokes but for the most part, it's the most unobjectionable mainstream movie I've seen in a long time, man. Seriously. The movie doesn't really make fun of God or anything. I'm a sensitive person but I wasn't offended by this movie at all... =P

This movie made me ponder a few things:

When you pray and ask God for patience, does God give you patience, or put you in a situation where you learn patience?

If someone asks for courage, does God give them courage or put them in a situation where they can become courageous?

Does God give you family togetherness, or does He put you in a situation where you pull together as a family?

Steve Carell is the master of the uncomfortable moment (you would know what I mean if you watched The Office on StarWorld), which makes him the perfect actor to play the modern day Noah. We get a sense for how the real Noah must have felt in his day, really... telling everyone it was going to flood, as he built a huge boat in his backyard. Evan actually sheds some light on what this must have been like for Noah.

All in all, I thought the movie was pretty good. It ain't really the story of Noah's ark, but a story of God wanting to use someone to do great things. When Evan is fighting against building the ark, it's like an uphill battle. It's only when he surrenders to what he knows God is asking, that things seem to make sense to Evan and fall into place. I felt that the movie did portray the fact that even when you do what God has asked you, it may not be an easy road.

Very often, a Christian's life is portrayed as wonderful and without many problems. That's not real. In this movie, following God's will has put a strain on not only his professional life, but his family life as well, although both are resolved in the end. I felt that God was portrayed as loving, without being too phony or ridiculous.

Having said that, I need to point out a few things. Being a Christian is not just about doing more "acts of random kindness" (A.R.K.) only. God loves us, but with a holy love that includes chastening and justice. He's extremely angry at sin, and He hates even the "little sins", and He's not nearly as concerned with our happiness as with His own glory.

The flood back in Noah's time was God's righteous judgment on rampant wickedness. Read the whole book of Genesis. I doubt you'll find anything "funny" in it. Nope, you won't find any poop jokes. Untold masses of people died. Why? Well, it wasn't exactly a "love story" to teach us how to stick together side-by-side, as Morgan Freeman would have us believe in this movie. The movie centered around Genesis 6:14, but it buried 6:5 and 6:11-13. Unless we repent, we'll likewise perish. "Acts of random kindness" don't qualify as repentance; they flow naturally from it... =)

If you're thinking, "Chillax, girl! It's just a fictional movie. Have a sense of humor and enjoy it la! Who cares that it wasn't biblically accurate - it wasn't intended to be," well, when describing God, accuracy matters because most movie-goers might assume what they see in this movie is largely a good approximation of who God is. They might go home deceived. We should be showing off God to the world for the incredible grace He showed upon the cross! Amen? =D