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.
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The message is so good-hearted, so inarguable, so dull.
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The Hollywood ReporterKirk 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.
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
VarietyBrian Lowry
It's mildly diverting for kids and families in a way that would be perfectly fine as an ABC Family cable project.
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.
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Bland jokes and lazy contrivances.
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's Carell who projects the movie's only sense of mischief. But it's too little and too late.
20
Village Voice
Village Voice
It marks an unfortunate low point in the history of recent American comedy. There goes Steve Carell's perfect game.