It was obvious from there that Carell had natural comedic talent and timing, and over the past five years (with many starring roles under his belt) he has grown to become a solid actor and a genuine name in Hollywood.  I suppose it’s fitting in a way that he returns to the franchise that helped him get noticed, as he takes on the starring role in Evan Almighty.

Here’s the story...

Former newsman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is elected to congress and decides to move his family out of Buffalo so they can be closer to his new workplace in Washington. He, his wife Joan (Lauren Graham) and his 3 sons move into a palatial sized house in a brand new estate. 

After praying one night, Baxter receives a visit from God Almighty himself (Morgan Freeman) who commands Evan to build an Ark.  Evan is initially sceptical of this "God", but after witnessing just what he can do Evan starts to believe and goes about the monumental task of trying to build the gigantic ship.

This isn’t going to be easy.  His work colleagues start to think he’s lost his mind leaving his job in jeopardy, his wife thinks he might be insane leaving his marriage and family in jeopardy, and building an Ark is such a mammoth task that it’s going to require a great deal of help. 

Can Evan do it before the flood arrives???

Initial reviews of this film weren’t good so I braced myself for a bit of a shocker but I was pleasantly surprised by the time the credits rolled, it was nowhere near as horrible as I had expected.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Evan Almighty is no comedic masterpiece.  It goes the safe route of a “family friendly” film and faces all the problems and limitations that go along with that.  It isn’t as funny as the imperfect original and it feels purposefully restrained at times, but there’s a certain simplistic nature to it that I couldn’t help but find endearing.

The trouble here is so much of this film rides on Carell’s shoulders and while he doesn’t disgrace himself by any means, he just wasn’t able to match Carrey’s portrayal of Bruce in the original film.  One of the major hurdles is the character of Baxter himself.  This isn’t exactly the most likeable and appealing sort of guy, which leaves the viewer feeling a certain sense of apathy towards his predicament.

The movie is also filled with very basic (and quite clichéd it must be said) characters and story elements.  There is a fair bit of talent in the supporting cast and cameos but they’re often restricted to clunky dialogue and one-liners that really aren’t that funny. 

Overall, there are plenty of problems with Evan Almighty, but as a family film it isn’t all that terrible.  It’s got a “nice” environmental message, a “nice” religious message, and a “nice” people message.  Just don’t expect too much and you might find something “nice” here too.

I don’t know if it’s that I expect so much from recent movie transfers or whether I’ve been watching too much HD content lately but whatever the cause I’ve got to say Evan Almighty looks pretty...underwhelming.

The print used for this transfer is pristine and when a scene comes along that has plenty of light it can look very good with nice colours and image detail, but unfortunately the majority of the film seems a bit too dark and muddy helping to create an image that is quite flat and unimpressive.  This is especially annoying when you take a look at a few of the supplements on this disc that include clips from the film, as they have a vibrancy and depth to them that the main feature presentation lacks.

It’s not poor by any means, but this is a brand new, high budget film that should look much better than it does on DVD.

This is a RSDL disc with the layer change popping in at 46.46.  While the change itself occurs at a rather poor place (the middle of a conversation), it manages to go by pretty much unnoticed.  I didn't notice any compression problems and film grain is never excessive, although that may due to the rather processed nature of the image.

Overall, I can’t help but feel disappointed by the film’s transfer. 

While I found the video presentation to be slightly unimpressive, I can’t find much to fault with the audio. 

Dialogue is clean and easy to understand while the frequently used music comes across with excellent dynamic range and clarity.  Being a comedy, the majority of the film exists in the front soundstage, but the surrounds and subwoofer aren’t useless and are noticeable for the animal sounds, the music and the CGI filled climax.  It can be quite an enveloping soundtrack at times and retains a natural feel rather than an artificial one.

Overall, great audio presentation.

As for the disc itself the Special Features section is pretty well loaded with material, but unfortunately there isn't a great deal of content in these supplements.

Steve Carell introduces each of these extras.

• Deleted Scenes (14.34)

Including scene extensions and alternate takes as well as deleted scenes, there is a decent collection of material here, although I can’t say I saw anything that should have made it into the final cut.  This one is NOT 16:9 enhanced.

• Outtakes (2.46)

A surprisingly bland collection of flubs and stuff-ups.  Usually these things are a really enjoyable watch but this is about the dullest one I’ve seen that only invoked the odd smile.  Maybe the more risqué stuff was left on the cutting room floor.  This is also not 16:9 enhanced.

• The Ark-itects of Noah's Ark (6.50)

A featurette on the creation of the massive ark that we see in the finished film.  It really was a very impressive piece of construction that must have cost an absolute fortune.  Hence the ridiculous budget (reported as $175 million) I suppose.  The video here is 16:9 enhanced.

• Becoming Noah (6.27)

A featurette on the make-up used on Steve Carell that helped to turn him from clean-cut Evan into long-haired, long-bearded Noah.  Steve spent an INCREDIBLE amount of time in that make-up chair!  This is also 16:9 enhanced.

• Steve Carell Unscripted (3.14)

A behind-the-scenes with Steve that is (unfortunately) nowhere near as funny as you’d think it would be.  Once again this is 16:9 enhanced.

• Animals On-Set Two-by-Two (12.52)

Ah...the old film adage, “never work with children or animals”.  With over 200 different types of animals in the film, this piece deals with the difficulties of trying to organise and arrange a large variety of creatures so that they hit their marks, follow their instructions, and work together.  Not easy.  The video is 16:9 enhanced.

• The Almighty Green Set (5.27)

The director (along with other cast and crew members) talk about the environmental message that the film is trying to make, as well as discuss what they did to eliminate the carbon footprint caused by the film itself.  It is 16:9 enhanced.

• It's Easy Being Green (4.41)

Advice from cast and crew on the little things you can do to improve the environment.  And yes, this is as lame as it sounds.  Oddly, this is not 16:9 enhanced.

• Acts of Random Kindness (1.48)

Cast and crew talk about the random acts of kindness that they have given and experienced in their lives.  This is actually even LAMER than it sounds.  Again, this is NOT 16:9 enhanced.

• A Flood of Visual Effects (7.12)

The visual effects team talk about the difficulties and challenges of creating the film’s CGI filled climax.   Still, for a film with such a huge budget, I’ll be buggered if I can see where all the special effects money went.  This is 16:9 enhanced.

• Casting Call: Serengeti  (2.53)

A mock casting session for the wild animals used in the film.  It TRIES to be funny, but unfortunately fails pretty miserably.  Also features an ad for General Electric’s environmental work.  This is not 16:9 enhanced.

There is also apparently an Easter Egg hidden hear somewhere, but I was unable to locate it.

The video presentation is OK, the audio is very good, while the plethora of extras provide a classic case of quantity over quality.

For fans of the film, it’s a decent buy, but for those who haven’t seen it yet, I recommend you rent it first.