EVAN ALMIGHTY
Starring Steve Carell, Lauren Graham and Morgan Freeman; Written by Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen and Alex Sokolow; Directed by Tom Shadyac; 96 minutes; Rated PG [for mild rude humor and some peril]

It is the single most expensive comedy ever made, estimated to cost somewhere around $175 million. So, where are the disclaimers?:

Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) is an able enough substitute for Jim Carrey, but even the most versatile comics can only do so much with a script that too often feels like a glorified thumbnail sketch. Carell, the gifted star of “The Office,” returns as Evan Baxter, the news anchor who is now a U.S. Congressman, elected on his empty “Change The World” platform (which smells slightly of “Think God” from Oh God! Book II). The screenplay is not so much dedicated to bringing Evan around from materialistic suburbanite to God’s selfless shepherd as it is to being a showcase for the three credited writer’s favorite jokes and visual gags. With an ark full of animals (ordered by chronically cool God, Morgan Freeman), there are certainly plenty of opportunities, only most of the attempts that the team makes are way broad or involve poop.

One thing the movie solidly achieves, though, is the establishment of a sense of our being a part of something bigger — something beyond ourselves — even if it is only in dribs and drabs. Like in The Santa Clause (to which this movie owes a minor conceptual debt), it makes the skeptical and disillusioned want to believe, if not in God, then some kind of benevolent order from the chaos of life. Like the touchy-feely Pay It Forward, this one is more talk of such lofty concepts, and less following them through to a satisfying end (that does not involve an outtake reel).•••