In Evan we trust?
Evan Almighty is a 2007 Religious Fantastic Comedy film and a sequel to Bruce Almighty, spoofing the biblical story of The Flood and Noah's ark.Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), Bruce's rival from the first film, becomes a congressman and moves to Washington D.C. where God (Morgan Freeman) forces him to become the next Noah, presumably to save people and animals from the next Flood. This causes people, even his family, to think he's going crazy.
This film provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: When Evan is driving to work after having met God, he passes a movie theater, which is showing The 40-Year-Old Virgin Mary.
- Answer to Prayers: That people might not understand the answer is discussed in the film.God: Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does He give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does He give them opportunities to love each other?
- Arc Number: The number 614, often accompanied by the letters "Gen", appears frequently early on, which the titular Evan Baxter takes notice of. His General Electric-brand alarm clock starts to go off at 6:14 AM despite being set for 7:00 AM. He receives a shipment of lumber from Go-4-Wood meant for an address that starts with 614, with the purchase order number 0006-14. His co-worker has a new phone extension of 614, and another staffer's new baby boy weighs in at, as Evan anticipated, 6 pounds, 14 ounces. His new license plates read "GEN 614". This all leads up to him meeting God, who asks him to be the new Noah and build an ark, just like how Noah was instructed to build an arc in Genesis 6:14.
- Arc Words: "One act of random kindness at a time."
- Artifact Title: Evan is never actually given almighty powers, as Bruce is in the previous film. It also has zero word play like the first film did with "Zeus Almighty".
- Artistic License – Religion: Besides the use of "works in mysterious ways", at the end of the Great Flood, God had promised to never flood the entire world ever again. It's subverted because although a global flood was implied, it was actually localized and not global (even if it did make a temporary inland sea). Besides, God didn't cause it; man did.
- As the Good Book Says...: Evan keeps getting prompted with the number 614. Genesis 6:14 is "Make thee an ark of gopherwood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch".
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Rita, when her co-workers decide that getting on the ark is a good idea...Rita: I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm going home. (cue dam breaking and ensuing flash flood) Ladies first! Move!
- Award-Bait Song: Be The Miracle
by Room For Two, thought it's exclusive to the soundtrack rather than being featured in the movie itself. - Be Careful What You Wish For: Joan prays that career-obsessed Evan will spend more time with his family. Cue a month-long family project that could save them and fellow politicians.
- The Beastmaster: Evan, who had been followed by animals throughout the film, raises his staff to load them all aboard the completed Ark, to the shock of everybody nearby.Rita: I can't even get my cat to use the litterbox...
- Big Bad: Chuck Long, the corrupt Congressional Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, who is indirectly responsible for the flood that God asks Noah to build the ark in preparation for, due to him cutting corners and violating building codes on a dam, causing it to collapse.
- Big Dam Plot: The source of the flood.
- The Cassandra: As in the original, Baxter's the wannabe he was after Bruce's godly powers wrecked his anchor job.
- Cassandra Did It: Half-heartedly attempted by Long to deflect his own guilt, but it doesn't work.
- Changing of the Guard: Bruce Almighty starred Jim Carrey as Bruce... and as a supporting character, Steve Carell as newscaster Evan. Steve's character would then get promoted to the lead role in this sequel.
- Characterization Marches On: Evan Baxter goes from a smug, vapid antagonist to a nice, well-meaning father and husband whose only real flaw is that he is a workaholic. Considering he doesn't even have the same job he had the first film, he comes across more as a brand new character that coincidentally has the same name and actor as the original Evan. Steve Carell admitted in an interview around the time of the movie's release that Evan Almighty should just be looked upon as its own stand alone movie, and not as a sequel to Bruce Almighty, and that it's really just a retelling of Noah's Ark set in the present day.
- Continuity Nod: Susan Ortega, the sexy co-anchor from the first film, turns up briefly in the second (besides God and Evan, she is the only returning character).
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: The titular protagonist of the first film, Bruce, was a bit of a jerky news reporter who blamed God for when things don't go his way. Evan on the other hand, while he can be smug, is a workaholic and an unintentionally neglectful family man.
- Curse Cut Short: In front of his kids; "Mooooootherfffathersisterbrother!"
- Cutting Corners: The flood occurs because the dam burst, which was due to the film's antagonist trying to save money in its construction.
- Dance Party Ending: See "Sudden Musical Ending" below.
- Death Glare: The whole Senate at Long once they find out his business practices and the fact that a whole community was wiped out thanks to it. If it weren't for Evan and his Ark, that also could've included lives being lost.
- Divine Intervention: Evan's ark is seaworthy, but steering it is another matter. When it appears that they'll crash into a bridge, Evan has to ask God for, "a little help here," which comes in the form of a wave that changes the boat's course directly into the steps of Congress.
- Dolled-Up Installment: It was not originally written as a sequel to Bruce Almighty and this explains why the character Evan Baxter has a different personality, and really isn't the jerk he was in the first film, though Evan did go through character development at the end.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Long at least has enough decency to act shocked for a few seconds after being told the dam burst (because apparently even he was swindled by the builders regarding how safe it was) before starting to point fingers at Evan.
- Fat Bastard: Chuck Long (John Goodman) who plans on launching a bill that will displace hundreds of animals, and whose greed destroys a community and nearly kills hundreds of innocent people.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Like in the first movie, God first appears as a janitor, played by Morgan Freeman.
- Friend to All Living Things: Animals start flocking to Evan, although he himself hates them (at first).
- Gaia's Vengeance: God's plan looks like this at times. He seems to think the valley Evan lives in looked better before it was filled with houses, and then there's the No Endor Holocaust ending. It's ultimately a subversion, as it turns out the flood was caused by corrupt humans cutting corners on the construction of a dam, not by God or nature.
- Gonna Need More X: Evan gives a Jaws 1 Shout-Out when the dam bursts. "We're gonna need a bigger boat!"
- Green Aesop: In the first ten minutes, we see Evan driving a Hummer, ordering kitchen units in wood from old-growth rainforests, and considering sponsoring a bill to open up national parks for development. He hates animals too.
- Hamster-Wheel Power: A wooden wheel is given by God during the construction of the Ark, initially run by Evan's sons, then by Joan, to power the hauling of materials to the upper levels of the Ark.
- Hide Your Otherness: Evan grows a beard that won't go away no matter how many times he shaves it, and exposes his Noah persona.
- In Mysterious Ways: The 555 materials supplier, and knowing the dam would burst? A mystery only God knew.
- Incredibly Inconvenient Deity: Evan grows a beard all of a sudden and is forced to build an ark, among other things.
- Inevitable Waterfall: A real trick, considering it involves an ark and a flood. Oh, and God.
- Kinder and Cleaner: Compared to the film from which it spun, Bruce Almighty, there is little to no profanity.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The heavyset older woman who led the crowd in mocking Evan on the day of the flood ends up struggling to run to safety when everybody is forced to board the Ark. She’s seen having to be assisted by the cops present just to get up the ramp.
- Llama Loogie: An alpaca spits in Congressman Long's face at the end to humiliate him.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Formerly a TV reporter and anchorman, Evan has now become a congressman.
- Noah's Story Arc: The film has the title character from the former assume the role of Noah when God tells him to make an ark because of an incoming flood.
- No Endor Holocaust: Even if we assume that no one got killed during the initial flood, the huge amount of property damage, resulting mold and the fact that sources of clean water would be compromised after such a disaster make the fact that Evan became a marginally better human being not such a great accomplishment as the movie wants us to think. This Cracked article puts it the best.
- No Party Given: Evan drives a Hummer and watches MSNBC and, to explain for non-US tropers, this is a stereotypically Republican car and a network whose opinion shows tend to be Democratic-leaning.
- Offscreen Teleportation: A trope reported to be used in a deleted scene in the first film occurs when God uses this. Being God, one does expect it.
- Parodies for Dummies: God presents Evan with Ark Building for Dummies.
- Police Are Useless: Averted, as the police in the film are just doing their job and though they laugh along with the heckling at Evan, they don't mean him any harm and understandably don't believe him. Once the flood actually starts and they realize the danger, they immediately order all the people aboard the Ark and work hard to get everyone aboard. A few of them are also seen carefully helping the overweight old lady who had been leading the heckling up the ramp since she's deeply struggling.
- Prophecy Twist: Evan is expecting a flood due to rain like in the story. In reality, it's just a flash flood caused by a shoddily built dam breaking.
- Punny Name: When God poses as a human, he claims to be "Al Mighty". There's also a real estate agent named "Eve Adams".
- Rapid Hair Growth: Evan's hair and beard both grows long way to fast because God is turning him into Noah. When he shaves, it grows back instantly.
- Running Gag:
- Bird poop. Lots and lots of bird poop.
- Also the Dance, which made its way into the credits.
- Same Character, But Different: Evan Baxter, who's almost an entirely different character than in Bruce Almighty. He's suddenly gone from anchorman to congressman note , has moved from Buffalo to D.C., now has a wife and three kids, and has undergone a personality shift from an antagonistic news reporter to a family man whose worst trait is being a workaholic.
- Sassy Black Woman: Rita, Evan's assistant who makes a lot of remarks and jokes over the course of the film, including asking whether his beard is because he fell in a mineshaft, came out of a coma, or was attacked by a werewolf.
- Selective Obliviousness: No one seems to notice the changes in Evan that seem to happen instantly. No one notices Evan's clothes teleport off him and into a neatly folded bundle in a nationally televised hearing. No one notices Evan's hair change from brown to white overnight.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the kids' plush toys is of Aladar from Dinosaur.
- Evan's physical transformation, from how it alienates him from his family, to scenes like him walking into the bathroom after waking up to discover he has a beard that grows back when its shaved, is similar to that of Scott Calvin.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: God. Now you see Him, now you don't.
- Stealth Pun
- Evan's wife is named Joan. He's building an
arcark. Joan of Arc, anyone? - As Evan is laying out all of the plans he has now that he's moved into his new house, God laughs heartily. "Man plans and God laughs."
- Evan's wife is named Joan. He's building an
- Subbing for Santa: Evan Baxter is bestowed the fantastic non-powers of Noah. He can make a boat and animals like him!
- Sudden Musical Ending: The cast starts singing and dancing to "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" during the credits.
- Tamer and Chaster: The movie lacks most of the raunchy humor of Bruce Almighty.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: God's behavior towards Evan is often bordering on downright cruel, compared to the Trickster Mentor he was to Bruce in the first film. At least he didn't make Bruce and the people in his life question whether Bruce was losing his grip on reality, whereas Evan often is forced to look utterly insane. However, he does convince Joan (after she and the boys leave Evan) to go back to him, and spend more time with him to build the Ark. In the end, after the flood happens, and Evan's Ark manages to save countless lives, it seems that in the end those who thought Evan was crazy were probably kicking themselves for doubting him.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Evan may still have the same name, actor, and smugness, but aside from that, he is a very different character than he was in Bruce Almighty. In this film, he is more of a well-meaning family man who can be a workaholic and unintentionally neglectful father. This trope may be somewhat justified as he didn't have a lot of screen time in the first film. Now that he's the main lead, we see a lot more of what he's really like.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one at the Congress meeting seems the least bit surprised when Evan stands up and his suit magically teleports off him and onto his desk folded up and he's suddenly wearing Biblical robes. No gasps, no jumps, nothing.
- Wafer Thin Mint: It's heavily implied the brief rainstorm that passed over Prestige Crest was the tipping point for the shoddily built dam to break and cause a flood.
- Weirdness Censor: The only way to explain the way people keep dismissing the strange things going on around and with Evan, especially when dealing with hordes of animals suddenly appearing multiple times.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Evan Baxter tells his wife that he's been chosen by God to recreate the Noah story and that's why all this weird stuff is happening. She doesn't believe him at first.