EVAN ALMIGHTY
Funny, heartwarming ark comedy that stumbles on theology but still blesses.
Should You Watch It?
Start with the good news, because there's a lot of it. EVAN ALMIGHTY is a cute, hilarious, and genuinely poignant family comedy, and Steve Carell is wonderfully ditzy as a man God won't leave alone. The ending is thrilling enough to redeem the movie's sillier plot holes, and the film takes God and the Bible seriously — no small thing for a mainstream comedy.
But it costs something. The movie never makes clear that when God appears to us in human form, He always appears as Jesus Christ, per John 1. It also slips into a pantheistic line about God "living in everything," which flattens the biblical doctrine of God's omnipresence. Add a handful of light profanities and some bird-dung humor, and you have a comedy with real theological homework attached.
Families who go in ready to fill those gaps will come out fed — laughing, moved, and with something to talk about in the car. Here's the answer: worth the trip for kids seven and up, with a parent nearby to finish the theology the movie starts.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESEvan Baxter (Steve Carell), the TV anchorman turned freshman Congressman, moves his wife and three sons to Washington, D.C., determined to change the world. When his wife tells him to pray about it, he does — and God takes him up on the offer. The command: build an ark like Noah's, because a flood is coming on September 22. Evan tries to get out of the job. God won't let him.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this comedy delivers exactly what it promises, and then some. It's hilarious and poignant, built on a string of funny episodes — animals trailing Evan everywhere, his uncontrollable beard and hair — that build toward a genuinely thrilling, unexpected climax. Carell's goofy, winsome performance carries the movie's sillier stretches, and the positive ending does real work redeeming the plot holes along the way. It's a light family comedy, not a deep one, but it succeeds completely at what it sets out to do.
The Worldview
This is a movie that wants to take God seriously, and mostly does. It carries a very strong moral worldview, with strong biblical allusions — repeated nods to Genesis 6:14, a running bit about "random acts of kindness" as obedience in small things, and at least two overt New Testament references, including a nod to "Alpha and Omega," one of the Book of Revelation's central names for Jesus.
Where it stumbles is theological. The film never makes clear that when God appears to people in human form, that appearance is always Jesus Christ, per John 1 — a gap that could genuinely confuse Christian children and mislead non-Christian viewers about who God is. It also includes a heretical, pantheistic line suggesting God "lives in everything," rather than the biblical truth that everything exists in God's presence. One softer note works better than it first appears: the God character calls Noah's flood more a story of love than of wrath — which, rightly understood, is a legitimate Christian reading, since the ark is itself a symbol of God's loving provision for those who obey Him.
Underneath the jokes is a real ache to know and obey a personal God — a longing the film can name but not fully answer. Scripture answers it directly: "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). That's the piece this movie leaves for parents to supply.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong moral worldview with strong biblical allusions (including repeated references to Gen 6:14), plus comic hero awkwardly prays to God by his bed, character has trouble fulfilling God’s commands so God tells him to ask and he shall receive, and at least two overt references to the New Testament (including a reference to alpha and omega, one of the Book of Revelation’s most important designations for Jesus), but, other than that, movie does not make it clear that the appearance of God in incarnational human form is always Jesus Christ, movie contains a heretical reference to God living in all things (a pantheistic pagan concept) when (in reality) the omnipresence of God means that everything in the universe is immediately in God’s presence (not that God lives in everything), and God character says the story of Noah’s Flood is more a story of love than a story of God’s wrath (which can be a Christian view of the Flood since Noah’s ark is indeed a symbol of God’s provision for those who love and obey Him), and inside joke about star’s previous movie shows marquee that says “The 40 Year Old Virgin Mary”; four or five light profanities, plus some scatological jokes, especially about bird dung; comic violence such as man hurts himself and falls sometimes while trying to build another ark and exciting action violence when raging flood waters carry ark downstream; no sex scenes; no nudity; no alcohol; no smoking; and, lying and deceit rebuked.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Evan's obedience costs him his reputation and his comfort. What has obedience to God cost you, and how did He provide anyway?
Genesis 6:22 · Hebrews 11:7The movie says God "lives in everything." The Bible teaches something more precise — that God is present everywhere but distinct from His creation. How would you explain that difference to a friend?
Psalm 139:7–10 · Acts 17:24–28The film calls Noah's flood more a story of love than wrath. Where do God's judgment and God's mercy meet in that story, in your view?
Genesis 6:5–8 · 2 Peter 3:9When God appears to people in Scripture in human form, that appearance is always Christ. Why does that matter for how we picture God — and how might you explain that to a child after watching this movie?
John 1:1, 14 · John 14:9The Final Word
This is a funny, warm, genuinely thrilling family comedy that takes God seriously enough to get some things wonderfully right — and a couple of things wrong enough to need a conversation afterward. Bring the popcorn and bring the follow-up talk about who Jesus really is. Our answer stands: worth the trip — ages 7 and up.
