Movie Reflectio: Evan Almighty
One of the fringe benefits of working with kids is that you get plenty of chances to see movies that are rated PG. If it wasn't for my vocational calling, I would not have had the opportunity to discover such gems as Daddy Daycare and The Little Rascals. Granted, I would have also been spared the misery of Happy Feet, but most things in life involve trade offs.
Hollywood has been trying for a long time to make a movie that appeals to Christians and yet can garner wide-spread appeal. That is no easy task. Their effort with Pay It Forward came up dreadfully short on all accounts. Passion was a profitable experiment but said far too little about grace for my liking, and really isn't something that can be replicated into sequels.
And then steps Even Almighty onto the stage. As a big fan of Bruce Almighty, this was one of the few comedies I have been excited to see out of the box. Throw in some of the talent from The Office and you have me. The previews made the movie seem more kid friendly than Bruce, and I was even interested by some of the theological statements made in the previews.
But then the media burst my bubble last week with their tepid reviews, and I was sufficiently bummed. I just really wanted this one to work out. Nonetheless, it seemed like a good kid-friendly option so we took some kids to see it.
Evan is what it is. Is it corny? Yes. But what PG comedy isn't. I thought the corniness was cute and funny. I thought the film had a lot of good messages. I was shocked that there was nothing theologically in the film that really made me squirm. I was happy to sit through an entire feature film and not worry about what the kids were seeing and hearing. It was fantastic.
My advice is drop the $7 and go see the movie. Show Hollywood that they got it right and that you'd be willing to support efforts that are creative, funny, clean and include talented people. Maybe we'll get more films like Evan.
Fair Dinkum
Hollywood has been trying for a long time to make a movie that appeals to Christians and yet can garner wide-spread appeal. That is no easy task. Their effort with Pay It Forward came up dreadfully short on all accounts. Passion was a profitable experiment but said far too little about grace for my liking, and really isn't something that can be replicated into sequels.
And then steps Even Almighty onto the stage. As a big fan of Bruce Almighty, this was one of the few comedies I have been excited to see out of the box. Throw in some of the talent from The Office and you have me. The previews made the movie seem more kid friendly than Bruce, and I was even interested by some of the theological statements made in the previews.
But then the media burst my bubble last week with their tepid reviews, and I was sufficiently bummed. I just really wanted this one to work out. Nonetheless, it seemed like a good kid-friendly option so we took some kids to see it.
Evan is what it is. Is it corny? Yes. But what PG comedy isn't. I thought the corniness was cute and funny. I thought the film had a lot of good messages. I was shocked that there was nothing theologically in the film that really made me squirm. I was happy to sit through an entire feature film and not worry about what the kids were seeing and hearing. It was fantastic.
My advice is drop the $7 and go see the movie. Show Hollywood that they got it right and that you'd be willing to support efforts that are creative, funny, clean and include talented people. Maybe we'll get more films like Evan.
Fair Dinkum