Something’s disastrously off about “Evan Almighty,” almost as if not enough people asked those involved why exactly they wanted to make it.

On the one hand, it seems like it wants to be a star vehicle for “The Office’s” Steve Carell, allowing him to try out a few different wigs and outfits, and get some chuckles merely from his charisma. Yet on the other, it seems like a serious film about family, and a mystical film about the nature of faith and belief.

It has political overtones and environmental overtones, not to mention a seeming army of animals that don’t really have anything to do. But one thing is certain: Despite the fact the film boasts the considerable writing talents of Steve Oedekerk (the writer behind 2003’s “Bruce Almighty”) and the directing talents of Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar”), “Evan Almighty” is not nearly as funny as you might expect.

Not really funny at all, in fact.

While the first “Bruce Almighty” was about a guy being given the power of God, and choosing to use it recklessly before deciding to be more wise about things, “Evan Almighty” is more a test of faith than anything else. Evan Baxter (Carell) is a powerful new congressman on the hill, who ran on the campaign promise of changing the world and now is suffering the strain of his new job stealing him away from his family – who moved with him across the country with the promise that the move would bring them closer together.

Yet during his first day on the job, a senior congressman (John Goodman) presents him with a lengthy bill for Baxter to co-sponsor – a bill that would privatize public lands and make them open to development – and suddenly he’s already too busy for his three boys, pulling all-nighters as he reads through the stacks of pending legislation. Racing around in his SUV, he seems oblivious to the rat race of his life – constantly being briefed and instructed by his two assistants (John Michael Higgins and Wanda Sykes, in a hilarious performance) – until one day he awakes to an alarm clock that goes off at 6:14 in the morning, the General Electric logo scratched off, leaving only “Gen” behind.

Genesis 6:14, of course, is the verse about Noah and the Ark, and as big boxes of wood start arriving in Baxter’s front yard, he finds himself confronted by God (Morgan Freeman), who tells him to start building in anticipation of a great flood. When he hesitates, God helps give Baxter a push, by making it so that Baxter starts growing a beard that won’t go away, that he is followed everywhere he goes by an ever-increasing parade of animals, and that his clothes are replaced with a robe and cane.

As Washington mocks him, his family leaves him and the media hounds him, Baxter becomes an increasingly sympathetic character, hammering and nailing, sawing and lifting, until the ark’s complete.

Still, the question remains: Why make this movie? The appeal of “Bruce Almighty” is the intrigue of what a guy would do if he was given the power of God. But here, a relatively good and decent man does what God wants, and is subtly (and not-so-subtly) mocked for it. “Evan Almighty” is partly a slapstick comedy, but really has nothing more in the humor department than animals following a guy around, and Steve Carell forced into increasingly unlikely outfits.

More often, it has the drama of a family spat and a crisis of faith, along with the elements of a disaster flick while lacking the special effects to really make it effective. The film’s a little of this, a little of that, but ultimately nothing notable in any category. It’s a trifle of a thing; the kind of thing you’d see on a broadcast network on a Saturday afternoon, at least before you grew bored and changed the channel.

by: Steven Snyder steven@zertinet.com, Published 2007-06-20