Evan Almighty

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Though far from a disaster of Biblical proportions, Evan Almighty is a mild, sporadically funny comedy in an oversized sentimental frame.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Carell and Freeman are great together and Wanda Sykes' acerbic humor is perfect for her role as Evan's perplexed assistant.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Evan Almighty may not be enough to make you shout ''Hallelujah,'' but it's not the cinematic equivalent of a plague, either.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

What makes the film transcend its limitations is Carell, whose square, "Father Knows Best" demeanor belies a supreme comic self-confidence and whose implacability in the face of the movie's CGI-intensive animal antics can be marvelous to behold.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The message is so good-hearted, so inarguable, so dull.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Amusing in pieces but, taken as a whole, it offers little, and the morality lesson is galling.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Carell is lovable as God's unwilling disciple. But the comedy is less than divine.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Wanda Sykes and John Michael Higgins have energy as Evan's aides, and Jonah Hill (hot off "Knocked Up") gets laughs as a sycophantic researcher, but Graham has no chance to show what she can do.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

In Evan Almighty, Mr. God goes to Washington. Frank Capra, stop rolling in your grave. At least they cared enough to steal from the very best.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The film is a so-so slog through a torrent of tired jokes.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

You'd hope God would think bigger for His divine intervention in American politics.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Carell's frantic mugging as a modern-day Noah barely keeps Evan Almighty afloat.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Carell is getting quite good as these everyman characters but lacks the audacity of, say, a Carrey or a Robin Williams. He is making comedy out of dullness.

Variety Brian Lowry

It's mildly diverting for kids and families in a way that would be perfectly fine as an ABC Family cable project.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Ultimately, Evan Almighty is too sappy, too sanctimonious.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Only in the last 30 minutes does Evan Almighty put his gifts to decent use. Epically hairy and biblically robed, Carell suggests at that point what a bolder, more psychologically serious treatment of religious conviction would have been like.

Slate Dana Stevens

I really hope Evan Almighty doesn't become a surprise hit with a niche audience (Christian, environmentalist 8-year-olds?). Too much worldly success might tempt Steve Carell away from the righteous path of making movies as dark, weird, and funny as he is himself.

Premiere Eric Alt

The film wraps up in a neat, environmentally friendly package that might keep some kids entertained but will leave adults yawning.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A movie far less interesting than its premise. It is also slightly less interesting than its hugely popular predecessor, "Bruce Almighty."

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Freeman's God is a mix of Old and New Testament, with a dash of both sexism and sitcom; Carell's Noah is a political fool, but that only proves he's honest and sincere. This is idiotic, but it's so good-natured I didn't mind.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Evan Almighty runs out of comic invention early, and the filmmakers fall back on what real politicians do when they exhaust their small stash of ideas: brainless piety.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Though it's quite possibly an even worse film than "Bruce Almighty," the sequel offers at least one consolation: The smug and increasingly unfunny Jim Carrey is replaced by the very talented Steve Carell.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Carell's pal and "Daily Show" colleague Jon Stewart has a cameo as himself, one of a chorus of godless media star non-believers who do not see God's larger plan for Evan. Yes, well. At least "The Daily Show" is funny.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's an almighty, humorless bore.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Carell is on the fast track to becoming Robin Williams, a guy who lost the plot far too early on and began pouring his considerable comic gifts into brain-dead heart-warmers.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Bland jokes and lazy contrivances.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's Carell who projects the movie's only sense of mischief. But it's too little and too late.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

It goes without saying that Evan Almighty, a kid-friendly follow-up to the Jim Carrey vehicle "Bruce Almighty," is more Ronald McDonald than Holy Bible, but it didn't have to be this epically trite.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A limp, slow-moving and desperately unfunny comedy.

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

An unnecessary sequel to the equally unnecessary "Bruce Almighty."

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

It marks an unfortunate low point in the history of recent American comedy. There goes Steve Carell's perfect game.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This is movie-making by and for dummies, a sappy little bible story, blissed out on its own ineptitude.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A colossal dud.