Evan Almighty

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I had a wonderful evening last night - dinner, movie and coffee with a couple of friends. One is leaving for 4 weeks on a short-term mission trip to Denmark so we had a little goodbye for her before she leaves.

I enjoy Steve Carell - obviously since I put Little Miss Sunshine on my best of '06 list and The Office is just about the funniest show to me ever. You add Lauren Graham and I'm intrigued - Morgan Freeman and I'm happy.

While the movie isn't all that funny, (I expected many more laugh-out-loud moments than I got. There was maybe 6 or 7.) a moment in the movie will stay with me for a very long time. It's not a spoiler, but it is a nice defining moment - so read no further if you're dying to go and don't want to be spoiled in any way shape for form.

God asks Evan's wife: "Do you think that God gives us patience when we pray for it, or does he give us opportunities to be patient? And when we ask for courage, does he give us courage or give us opportunities to be courageous?"

There is more to the mini-speech he gives, but that's all I will share. The point is made in the most simplified, beautiful way that I'd never expect from Hollywood. What a lovely way to remind us all that it's not about what God gives us, but about what we do with what we already given. It's not the ultimate point the movie makes (which is a fairly good one, yet nothing we haven't heard from Hollywood before) yet that moment between Morgan Freeman and Lauren Graham made the $7.25 I spent worth it.

Comments

kc bob said…
A friend said that she enjoyed this one - maybe I'll get to it before video?
2:49 PM
stephanie said…
I decided today that I would characterize this movie as a "Disney" type of movie. Which is not what you'd normally expect from Steve Carell, which is why I felt the funny just wasn't there. But it makes a nice family film because the lessons are very good.
5:51 PM
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