Photo: Stanley Weber, Bethany Joy Lenz Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Eric Caro
Hallmark Channel’s Passport to Love programming event is coming in June, including the movie, Savoring Paris. Filmed partly in the City of Light, Bethany Joy Lenz, Stanley Weber and Ben Wiggins star in a story of love, fashion and food. Read on to find out more about the movie and its stars, view beautiful images captured on the film set and a trailer.
Savoring Paris on Hallmark Channel Photo: Lucy Newman-Williams, Bethany Joy Lenz, Ben Wiggins Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Elena Nenkova
Part of Hallmark’s Passport to Love programming event, the new, original movie, Savoring Paris was partly filmed in the iconic City of Light. According to the official synopsis, the movie tells the story of Ella (Lenz), a burned-out executive of an American food change. She realizes the happiest time of her life during a trip to Paris after college.
Hallmark Channel’s Passport to Love programming event is coming in June, including the movie, Savoring Paris. Filmed partly in the City of Light, Bethany Joy Lenz, Stanley Weber and Ben Wiggins star in a story of love, fashion and food. Read on to find out more about the movie and its stars, view beautiful images captured on the film set and a trailer.
Savoring Paris on Hallmark Channel Photo: Lucy Newman-Williams, Bethany Joy Lenz, Ben Wiggins Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Elena Nenkova
Part of Hallmark’s Passport to Love programming event, the new, original movie, Savoring Paris was partly filmed in the iconic City of Light. According to the official synopsis, the movie tells the story of Ella (Lenz), a burned-out executive of an American food change. She realizes the happiest time of her life during a trip to Paris after college.
- 5/24/2024
- by Anne King
- Celebrating The Soaps
Exclusive: Loch Down Abbey, the debut novel by Beth Cowan-Erskine, is headed for the small screen. Madison Wells, Gigi Pritzker’s company behind Nat Geo’s Genius and 21 Bridges, is developing the book as a series after optioning the rights.
The book, which Cowan-Erskine wrote during the pandemic and was published by Hodder & Stoughton/Hachette last month, is centered on the delightfully selfish and out-of-step Inverkillen family. The trouble starts when Lord Inverkillen is found dead in mysterious circumstances after making a disastrous deal to sell off the family’s only asset, the whiskey distillery. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the savvy head housekeeper, isn’t so convinced. No one is allowed in or out of the Abbey because of a mysterious illness sweeping the country, so the residents of the house — both upstairs and downstairs — are the only suspects. The desperate state of the...
The book, which Cowan-Erskine wrote during the pandemic and was published by Hodder & Stoughton/Hachette last month, is centered on the delightfully selfish and out-of-step Inverkillen family. The trouble starts when Lord Inverkillen is found dead in mysterious circumstances after making a disastrous deal to sell off the family’s only asset, the whiskey distillery. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the savvy head housekeeper, isn’t so convinced. No one is allowed in or out of the Abbey because of a mysterious illness sweeping the country, so the residents of the house — both upstairs and downstairs — are the only suspects. The desperate state of the...
- 5/6/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Walden Media is developing another family-friendly feature film. Deadline reports that the studio has bought screen rights to Gordon Korman’s Ungifted, which is set to be published in fall 2012. Korman has already done well with the 39 Clues series that DreamWorks is currently developing as a film.
Ungifted is the story of “a 14-year-old kid of average intelligence who’s accidentally placed in a school of gifted students and tries to hide among the brainiacs to escape punishment for a prank he pulled at his old school. He eventually shakes up the uptight, socially awkward advanced students and learns something about his own capabilities.
Walden’s Amanda Morgan Palmer and Michael Bostick brought in the book and will hire a writer shortly. Walden Media’s other family-friendly projects include Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego with Jennifer Lopez attached, The Conscientious Objector with Get Low helmer Aaron Schneider directing,...
Ungifted is the story of “a 14-year-old kid of average intelligence who’s accidentally placed in a school of gifted students and tries to hide among the brainiacs to escape punishment for a prank he pulled at his old school. He eventually shakes up the uptight, socially awkward advanced students and learns something about his own capabilities.
Walden’s Amanda Morgan Palmer and Michael Bostick brought in the book and will hire a writer shortly. Walden Media’s other family-friendly projects include Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego with Jennifer Lopez attached, The Conscientious Objector with Get Low helmer Aaron Schneider directing,...
- 12/5/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Walden Media has optioned screen rights to Gordon Korman's upcoming novel "Ungifted" says Deadline
The story follows an average 14-year old kid accidentally placed in a school of gifted students. He eventually shakes up the uptight, socially awkward advanced students and learns something about his own capabilities.
Amanda Morgan Palmer and Michael Bostick will produce and are expected to hire a writer shortly.
The story follows an average 14-year old kid accidentally placed in a school of gifted students. He eventually shakes up the uptight, socially awkward advanced students and learns something about his own capabilities.
Amanda Morgan Palmer and Michael Bostick will produce and are expected to hire a writer shortly.
- 12/5/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: Walden Media has optioned screen rights to Ungifted, a Gordon Korman novel that will be published fall 2012 through the Balzer + Bray imprint of HarperCollins. Korman is the author of two installments of the 39 Clues series that DreamWorks is developing as a film. Ungifted is the story of a 14-year-old kid of average intelligence who’s accidentally placed in a school of gifted students and tries to hide among the brainiacs to escape punishment for a prank he pulled at his old school. He eventually shakes up the uptight, socially awkward advanced students and learns something about his own capabilities. Walden’s Amanda Morgan Palmer and Michael Bostick brought in the book and will hire a writer shortly. The author was repped by Curtis Brown. Walden Media has become quite active, attaching Jennifer Lopez to Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, setting Get Low helmer Aaron Schneider to direct The Conscientious Objector,...
- 12/5/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Sister scribes Carley and Chelsea Steiner have sold a family-comedy spec to Walden Media titled "Tough Cookies."
The story centers on a deadbeat dad ordered by a judge to form a Girl Scout troop with his rebel daughter and her friends. The troop uses its unconventional ways to compete against snobbish rivals at the National Scout Rally.
Kerner Entertainment Co.'s Jordan Kerner (2006's "Charlotte's Web") is producing, with Ben Haber (2007's "Across the Universe") executive producing. Haber brought the script to Walden.
Michael Bostick and Amanda Morgan Palmer are overseeing the project for Walden.
"Cookies" is the second project in the works for Chelsea Steiner, a former assistant at Icm, and Carley Steiner, who earned a master's in screenwriting at USC. Another screenplay, "Jelly," which centers on belly-dancing, is in development with producer David Doerkson and is set to go into production next year.
The sisters are repped by Apa and manager Nic Bogner.
The story centers on a deadbeat dad ordered by a judge to form a Girl Scout troop with his rebel daughter and her friends. The troop uses its unconventional ways to compete against snobbish rivals at the National Scout Rally.
Kerner Entertainment Co.'s Jordan Kerner (2006's "Charlotte's Web") is producing, with Ben Haber (2007's "Across the Universe") executive producing. Haber brought the script to Walden.
Michael Bostick and Amanda Morgan Palmer are overseeing the project for Walden.
"Cookies" is the second project in the works for Chelsea Steiner, a former assistant at Icm, and Carley Steiner, who earned a master's in screenwriting at USC. Another screenplay, "Jelly," which centers on belly-dancing, is in development with producer David Doerkson and is set to go into production next year.
The sisters are repped by Apa and manager Nic Bogner.
- 10/20/2008
- by By Leslie Simmons
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Days before the release of its summer tentpole "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Walden Media has acquired a new family-oriented tale.
The project, titled "Housebroken," takes a comedic look at a group of talking animals forced to live under the same roof when the two halves of the couple that owns them moves in together. It's based on a pitch from "Made of Honor" scribe Adam Sztykiel, who will write the screenplay.
"Housebroken" will combine CG and live action in the manner of such Walden films as "Charlotte's Web" and the "Chronicles of Narnia" series. The movie likely would be released by Fox under the studio's deal with Walden.
Walden co-ceo Michael Bostick and senior vp development and production Amanda Morgan Palmer brought "Housebroken" in to the banner. Mike DeLuca will produce, with Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone, who conceived the story, executive producing. Sztykiel, repped by Uta and attorney Jeff Frankel, also is attached to write "Nerd Camp" for Paramount.
"Housebroken" is part of a ramping up of development under Bostick, the Imaging and Shady Acres veteran who joined in the spring and has made his mark by bringing in such projects as Ross Venokur's family comedy "Inner Child" and the action-adventure "The Cruelest Miles."
Bostick is seeking to expand the family-film definition to include adult protagonists and appeal.
"This is perfectly representative of the new direction for Walden in its broader definition of what a family film can mean," he said of "Housebroken." "It's a great conceptual comedy with relatable family issues for adults and talking animals for kids."
Walden's "Journey" opens wide Friday in digital 3-D. In April, the company released the fantasy saga "Nim's Island," which has earned $79 million worldwide.
"Housebroken" marks a return of sorts for Bostick to territory he visited as a producer with last summer's Universal tentpole "Evan Almighty," which also included a bevy of CG animals in the context of a family comedy.
The project, titled "Housebroken," takes a comedic look at a group of talking animals forced to live under the same roof when the two halves of the couple that owns them moves in together. It's based on a pitch from "Made of Honor" scribe Adam Sztykiel, who will write the screenplay.
"Housebroken" will combine CG and live action in the manner of such Walden films as "Charlotte's Web" and the "Chronicles of Narnia" series. The movie likely would be released by Fox under the studio's deal with Walden.
Walden co-ceo Michael Bostick and senior vp development and production Amanda Morgan Palmer brought "Housebroken" in to the banner. Mike DeLuca will produce, with Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone, who conceived the story, executive producing. Sztykiel, repped by Uta and attorney Jeff Frankel, also is attached to write "Nerd Camp" for Paramount.
"Housebroken" is part of a ramping up of development under Bostick, the Imaging and Shady Acres veteran who joined in the spring and has made his mark by bringing in such projects as Ross Venokur's family comedy "Inner Child" and the action-adventure "The Cruelest Miles."
Bostick is seeking to expand the family-film definition to include adult protagonists and appeal.
"This is perfectly representative of the new direction for Walden in its broader definition of what a family film can mean," he said of "Housebroken." "It's a great conceptual comedy with relatable family issues for adults and talking animals for kids."
Walden's "Journey" opens wide Friday in digital 3-D. In April, the company released the fantasy saga "Nim's Island," which has earned $79 million worldwide.
"Housebroken" marks a return of sorts for Bostick to territory he visited as a producer with last summer's Universal tentpole "Evan Almighty," which also included a bevy of CG animals in the context of a family comedy.
- 7/9/2008
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With a goal to add family comedies to its slate, Walden Media has picked up a pitch by Ross Venokur called "Inner Child".
The project marks the first acquisition by newly appointed Walden co-CEO Michael Bostick. The deal was brought to Walden by Amanda Morgan Palmer, who just came aboard as senior vp development and production.
The story centers on an uptight dad whose life is turned upside down when his inner child takes control of his life.
Walden has been successful producing films in which the protagonist is a young adult, including the "Chronicles of Narnia" franchise -- which brought in $55 million at the U.S. boxoffice last weekend with its "Prince Caspian" -- and "Bridge to Terabithia".
But it has yet to really tap into films with an adult protagonist, Bostwick said.
"It's a big idea ... with themes of reawakening the imagination in us all," Bostwick said. "It's a step in a new direction, which is expanding the definition of a PG-rated family film."
The "Inner Child" project will be part of Walden's joint venture with Fox to market and release family films.
The project marks the first acquisition by newly appointed Walden co-CEO Michael Bostick. The deal was brought to Walden by Amanda Morgan Palmer, who just came aboard as senior vp development and production.
The story centers on an uptight dad whose life is turned upside down when his inner child takes control of his life.
Walden has been successful producing films in which the protagonist is a young adult, including the "Chronicles of Narnia" franchise -- which brought in $55 million at the U.S. boxoffice last weekend with its "Prince Caspian" -- and "Bridge to Terabithia".
But it has yet to really tap into films with an adult protagonist, Bostwick said.
"It's a big idea ... with themes of reawakening the imagination in us all," Bostwick said. "It's a step in a new direction, which is expanding the definition of a PG-rated family film."
The "Inner Child" project will be part of Walden's joint venture with Fox to market and release family films.
- 5/20/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Evan Almighty".Situating the biblical story of Noah and the Ark in a Washington that closely resembles Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" makes for one determined stab at a populist comedy. In Hollywood's newfound desire to court Christian audiences, nothing apparently is too over the top.
This does mean that Tom Shadyac's "Evan Almighty" develops a split personality. What starts out as a politically themed comedy takes a sharp turn into, as the ad copy suggests, "a comedy of Biblical proportions."
With popular Steve Carell as the circus master of an impressive menagerie of God's creatures, the film should live up to its populist aspirations. The film appears primed to entertain a large congregation of family audiences with its mix of Old Testament magic and skewering of modern-day skepticism.
The film is a sequel to 2003's "Bruce Almighty" -- and then again it isn't. The original film was a Jim Carrey vehicle where he played a disgruntled Buffalo, N.Y., TV reporter who is given divine powers by God (Morgan Freeman in a bit of typecasting) to see if he can do a better job. The new film focuses on a supporting character from that film, Carrey's news rival, Evan Baxter, who was played by Carell before he became a star in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin".
So the new movie can't wait to get out of Buffalo. Seems Evan has run for Congress even while retaining his TV job. (How the hell did that work? Did he get to cover himself?) By the time you've gobbled down your third handful of popcorn, Evan, his wife, Joan Lauren Graham), and three sons -- Dylan (Johnny Simmons), Jordan Graham Phillips) and Ryan (Jimmy Bennett) -- are off to a brand-new Virginian suburb outside D.C., still largely in the building stage.
Written by Steve Oedekerk (from a story by Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and himself), the film doesn't even bother to get any of the details of Capitol Hill right. A shifty-eyed senior congressman, played as if bloated on corruption and venality by John Goodman in one of his lesser performances, gets Evan an office grander than the Oval Office so he'll co-sponsor a land-grab bill. Neither the freshman congressman nor his staff smell a rat. Later, the congressman is seen commanding police and suspending fellow congressmen at will.
Nevermind. The show doesn't really begin until God (Freeman again) appears to Evan. He gently requests that Evan build an ark to prepare for a mighty flood. It takes longer than Bill Cosby's classic comedy routine about Noah for God to persuade Evan, and even then most of the persuading is done through a series of mammals and birds that follow Noah, two by two, everywhere.
When building gets under way -- on adjacent subdivision plots God has purchased for Evan along with a copy of "Ark Building for Dummies" -- Evan's family is convinced this is a midlife crisis gone far beyond the red Corvette stage. Meanwhile, his hair and beard grow overnight, and neither can be shaved off. Then God helpfully leaves a dusty old robe for Evan to use while working with the animals.
Much of the slapstick comedy involved in the building is feeble, and the film never does something unexpected once the wheels are set in motion. Shadyac and Oedekerk rely on the nonhuman supporting cast for their comic shock and awe. Composite shots of myriad animals and birds -- quite a few real and the others realistic CG critters -- fill the screen while TV reporters and neighbors gather to mock the modern-day Noah. The disappointment is that no one bothered to think through in contemporary comic terms what a repeat of Noah and the Ark would look like today.
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. Evan's family is too generic to do much more than blend into the scenery, where everyone can get upstaged by the animals.
With Evan's staff, things liven up. Wanda Sykes makes the most of the script's best wisecracks. John Michael Higgins is all unctuous anxiety as Evan's chief of staff. And Jonah Hill has moments as an intern who unaccountably morphs into his chief of intelligence.
Production values are outstanding as animal coordinator Mark Forbes, cinematographer Ian Baker, the visual effects unit and production designer Linda DeScenna put together the ark, animals and the biblical flood required. No "Ark Building for Dummies" needed here.
EVAN ALMIGHTY
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present in association with Relativity Media a Shady Acres/Barber-Birnbaum/Original Film production
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenwriter: Steve Oedekerk
Story: Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Based on characters created by: Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe
Producers: Tom Shadyac, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Neal H. Moritz, Michael Bostick
Executive producers: Ilona Herzberg, Dave Phillips, Matt Luber, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director of photography: Ian Baker
Production designer: Linda DeScenna
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Jonathan Watson, Amanda Morgan Palmer, Ori Marmur
Costume designer: Judy Ruskin Howell
Editor: Scott Hill
Cast:
Evan Baker: Steve Carell
God: Morgan Freeman
Joan Baxter: Lauren Graham
Dylan Baxter: Johnny Simmons
Jordan Baxter: Graham Phillips
Ryan Baxter: Jimmy Bennett
Congressman Long: John Goodman
Rita: Wanda Sykes
Marty: John Michael Higgins
MPAA rating: PG
Running time -- 78 minutes...
This does mean that Tom Shadyac's "Evan Almighty" develops a split personality. What starts out as a politically themed comedy takes a sharp turn into, as the ad copy suggests, "a comedy of Biblical proportions."
With popular Steve Carell as the circus master of an impressive menagerie of God's creatures, the film should live up to its populist aspirations. The film appears primed to entertain a large congregation of family audiences with its mix of Old Testament magic and skewering of modern-day skepticism.
The film is a sequel to 2003's "Bruce Almighty" -- and then again it isn't. The original film was a Jim Carrey vehicle where he played a disgruntled Buffalo, N.Y., TV reporter who is given divine powers by God (Morgan Freeman in a bit of typecasting) to see if he can do a better job. The new film focuses on a supporting character from that film, Carrey's news rival, Evan Baxter, who was played by Carell before he became a star in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin".
So the new movie can't wait to get out of Buffalo. Seems Evan has run for Congress even while retaining his TV job. (How the hell did that work? Did he get to cover himself?) By the time you've gobbled down your third handful of popcorn, Evan, his wife, Joan Lauren Graham), and three sons -- Dylan (Johnny Simmons), Jordan Graham Phillips) and Ryan (Jimmy Bennett) -- are off to a brand-new Virginian suburb outside D.C., still largely in the building stage.
Written by Steve Oedekerk (from a story by Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and himself), the film doesn't even bother to get any of the details of Capitol Hill right. A shifty-eyed senior congressman, played as if bloated on corruption and venality by John Goodman in one of his lesser performances, gets Evan an office grander than the Oval Office so he'll co-sponsor a land-grab bill. Neither the freshman congressman nor his staff smell a rat. Later, the congressman is seen commanding police and suspending fellow congressmen at will.
Nevermind. The show doesn't really begin until God (Freeman again) appears to Evan. He gently requests that Evan build an ark to prepare for a mighty flood. It takes longer than Bill Cosby's classic comedy routine about Noah for God to persuade Evan, and even then most of the persuading is done through a series of mammals and birds that follow Noah, two by two, everywhere.
When building gets under way -- on adjacent subdivision plots God has purchased for Evan along with a copy of "Ark Building for Dummies" -- Evan's family is convinced this is a midlife crisis gone far beyond the red Corvette stage. Meanwhile, his hair and beard grow overnight, and neither can be shaved off. Then God helpfully leaves a dusty old robe for Evan to use while working with the animals.
Much of the slapstick comedy involved in the building is feeble, and the film never does something unexpected once the wheels are set in motion. Shadyac and Oedekerk rely on the nonhuman supporting cast for their comic shock and awe. Composite shots of myriad animals and birds -- quite a few real and the others realistic CG critters -- fill the screen while TV reporters and neighbors gather to mock the modern-day Noah. The disappointment is that no one bothered to think through in contemporary comic terms what a repeat of Noah and the Ark would look like today.
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. Evan's family is too generic to do much more than blend into the scenery, where everyone can get upstaged by the animals.
With Evan's staff, things liven up. Wanda Sykes makes the most of the script's best wisecracks. John Michael Higgins is all unctuous anxiety as Evan's chief of staff. And Jonah Hill has moments as an intern who unaccountably morphs into his chief of intelligence.
Production values are outstanding as animal coordinator Mark Forbes, cinematographer Ian Baker, the visual effects unit and production designer Linda DeScenna put together the ark, animals and the biblical flood required. No "Ark Building for Dummies" needed here.
EVAN ALMIGHTY
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present in association with Relativity Media a Shady Acres/Barber-Birnbaum/Original Film production
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenwriter: Steve Oedekerk
Story: Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Based on characters created by: Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe
Producers: Tom Shadyac, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Neal H. Moritz, Michael Bostick
Executive producers: Ilona Herzberg, Dave Phillips, Matt Luber, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director of photography: Ian Baker
Production designer: Linda DeScenna
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Jonathan Watson, Amanda Morgan Palmer, Ori Marmur
Costume designer: Judy Ruskin Howell
Editor: Scott Hill
Cast:
Evan Baker: Steve Carell
God: Morgan Freeman
Joan Baxter: Lauren Graham
Dylan Baxter: Johnny Simmons
Jordan Baxter: Graham Phillips
Ryan Baxter: Jimmy Bennett
Congressman Long: John Goodman
Rita: Wanda Sykes
Marty: John Michael Higgins
MPAA rating: PG
Running time -- 78 minutes...
- 6/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Situating the biblical story of Noah and the Ark in a Washington that closely resembles Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington makes for one determined stab at a populist comedy. In Hollywood's newfound desire to court Christian audiences, nothing apparently is too over the top.
This does mean that Tom Shadyac's Evan Almighty develops a split personality. What starts out as a politically themed comedy takes a sharp turn into, as the ad copy suggests, "a comedy of Biblical proportions."
With popular Steve Carell as the circus master of an impressive menagerie of God's creatures, the film should live up to its populist aspirations. The film appears primed to entertain a large congregation of family audiences with its mix of Old Testament magic and skewering of modern-day skepticism.
The film is a sequel to 2003's Bruce Almighty -- and then again it isn't. The original film was a Jim Carrey vehicle where he played a disgruntled Buffalo, N.Y., TV reporter who is given divine powers by God (Morgan Freeman in a bit of typecasting) to see if he can do a better job. The new film focuses on a supporting character from that film, Carrey's news rival, Evan Baxter, who was played by Carell before he became a star in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
So the new movie can't wait to get out of Buffalo. Seems Evan has run for Congress even while retaining his TV job. (How the hell did that work? Did he get to cover himself?) By the time you've gobbled down your third handful of popcorn, Evan, his wife, Joan Lauren Graham), and three sons -- Dylan (Johnny Simmons), Jordan Graham Phillips) and Ryan (Jimmy Bennett) -- are off to a brand-new Virginian suburb outside D.C., still largely in the building stage.
Written by Steve Oedekerk (from a story by Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and himself), the film doesn't even bother to get any of the details of Capitol Hill right. A shifty-eyed senior congressman, played as if bloated on corruption and venality by John Goodman in one of his lesser performances, gets Evan an office grander than the Oval Office so he'll co-sponsor a land-grab bill. Neither the freshman congressman nor his staff smell a rat. Later, the congressman is seen commanding police and suspending fellow congressmen at will.
Nevermind. The show doesn't really begin until God (Freeman again) appears to Evan. He gently requests that Evan build an ark to prepare for a mighty flood. It takes longer than Bill Cosby's classic comedy routine about Noah for God to persuade Evan, and even then most of the persuading is done through a series of mammals and birds that follow Noah, two by two, everywhere.
When building gets under way -- on adjacent subdivision plots God has purchased for Evan along with a copy of Ark Building for Dummies -- Evan's family is convinced this is a midlife crisis gone far beyond the red Corvette stage. Meanwhile, his hair and beard grow overnight, and neither can be shaved off. Then God helpfully leaves a dusty old robe for Evan to use while working with the animals.
Much of the slapstick comedy involved in the building is feeble, and the film never does something unexpected once the wheels are set in motion. Shadyac and Oedekerk rely on the nonhuman supporting cast for their comic shock and awe. Composite shots of myriad animals and birds -- quite a few real and the others realistic CG critters -- fill the screen while TV reporters and neighbors gather to mock the modern-day Noah. The disappointment is that no one bothered to think through in contemporary comic terms what a repeat of Noah and the Ark would look like today.
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. Evan's family is too generic to do much more than blend into the scenery, where everyone can get upstaged by the animals.
With Evan's staff, things liven up. Wanda Sykes makes the most of the script's best wisecracks. John Michael Higgins is all unctuous anxiety as Evan's chief of staff. And Jonah Hill has moments as an intern who unaccountably morphs into his chief of intelligence.
Production values are outstanding as animal coordinator Mark Forbes, cinematographer Ian Baker, the visual effects unit and production designer Linda DeScenna put together the ark, animals and the biblical flood required. No Ark Building for Dummies needed here.
EVAN ALMIGHTY
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present in association with Relativity Media a Shady Acres/Barber-Birnbaum/Original Film production
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenwriter: Steve Oedekerk
Story: Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Based on characters created by: Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe
Producers: Tom Shadyac, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Neal H. Moritz, Michael Bostick
Executive producers: Ilona Herzberg, Dave Phillips, Matt Luber, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director of photography: Ian Baker
Production designer: Linda DeScenna
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Jonathan Watson, Amanda Morgan Palmer, Ori Marmur
Costume designer: Judy Ruskin Howell
Editor: Scott Hill
Cast:
Evan Baker: Steve Carell
God: Morgan Freeman
Joan Baxter: Lauren Graham
Dylan Baxter: Johnny Simmons
Jordan Baxter: Graham Phillips
Ryan Baxter: Jimmy Bennett
Congressman Long: John Goodman
Rita: Wanda Sykes
Marty: John Michael Higgins
MPAA rating PG
Running time 78 minutes...
This does mean that Tom Shadyac's Evan Almighty develops a split personality. What starts out as a politically themed comedy takes a sharp turn into, as the ad copy suggests, "a comedy of Biblical proportions."
With popular Steve Carell as the circus master of an impressive menagerie of God's creatures, the film should live up to its populist aspirations. The film appears primed to entertain a large congregation of family audiences with its mix of Old Testament magic and skewering of modern-day skepticism.
The film is a sequel to 2003's Bruce Almighty -- and then again it isn't. The original film was a Jim Carrey vehicle where he played a disgruntled Buffalo, N.Y., TV reporter who is given divine powers by God (Morgan Freeman in a bit of typecasting) to see if he can do a better job. The new film focuses on a supporting character from that film, Carrey's news rival, Evan Baxter, who was played by Carell before he became a star in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
So the new movie can't wait to get out of Buffalo. Seems Evan has run for Congress even while retaining his TV job. (How the hell did that work? Did he get to cover himself?) By the time you've gobbled down your third handful of popcorn, Evan, his wife, Joan Lauren Graham), and three sons -- Dylan (Johnny Simmons), Jordan Graham Phillips) and Ryan (Jimmy Bennett) -- are off to a brand-new Virginian suburb outside D.C., still largely in the building stage.
Written by Steve Oedekerk (from a story by Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and himself), the film doesn't even bother to get any of the details of Capitol Hill right. A shifty-eyed senior congressman, played as if bloated on corruption and venality by John Goodman in one of his lesser performances, gets Evan an office grander than the Oval Office so he'll co-sponsor a land-grab bill. Neither the freshman congressman nor his staff smell a rat. Later, the congressman is seen commanding police and suspending fellow congressmen at will.
Nevermind. The show doesn't really begin until God (Freeman again) appears to Evan. He gently requests that Evan build an ark to prepare for a mighty flood. It takes longer than Bill Cosby's classic comedy routine about Noah for God to persuade Evan, and even then most of the persuading is done through a series of mammals and birds that follow Noah, two by two, everywhere.
When building gets under way -- on adjacent subdivision plots God has purchased for Evan along with a copy of Ark Building for Dummies -- Evan's family is convinced this is a midlife crisis gone far beyond the red Corvette stage. Meanwhile, his hair and beard grow overnight, and neither can be shaved off. Then God helpfully leaves a dusty old robe for Evan to use while working with the animals.
Much of the slapstick comedy involved in the building is feeble, and the film never does something unexpected once the wheels are set in motion. Shadyac and Oedekerk rely on the nonhuman supporting cast for their comic shock and awe. Composite shots of myriad animals and birds -- quite a few real and the others realistic CG critters -- fill the screen while TV reporters and neighbors gather to mock the modern-day Noah. The disappointment is that no one bothered to think through in contemporary comic terms what a repeat of Noah and the Ark would look like today.
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. Evan's family is too generic to do much more than blend into the scenery, where everyone can get upstaged by the animals.
With Evan's staff, things liven up. Wanda Sykes makes the most of the script's best wisecracks. John Michael Higgins is all unctuous anxiety as Evan's chief of staff. And Jonah Hill has moments as an intern who unaccountably morphs into his chief of intelligence.
Production values are outstanding as animal coordinator Mark Forbes, cinematographer Ian Baker, the visual effects unit and production designer Linda DeScenna put together the ark, animals and the biblical flood required. No Ark Building for Dummies needed here.
EVAN ALMIGHTY
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present in association with Relativity Media a Shady Acres/Barber-Birnbaum/Original Film production
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenwriter: Steve Oedekerk
Story: Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Based on characters created by: Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe
Producers: Tom Shadyac, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Neal H. Moritz, Michael Bostick
Executive producers: Ilona Herzberg, Dave Phillips, Matt Luber, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Director of photography: Ian Baker
Production designer: Linda DeScenna
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Jonathan Watson, Amanda Morgan Palmer, Ori Marmur
Costume designer: Judy Ruskin Howell
Editor: Scott Hill
Cast:
Evan Baker: Steve Carell
God: Morgan Freeman
Joan Baxter: Lauren Graham
Dylan Baxter: Johnny Simmons
Jordan Baxter: Graham Phillips
Ryan Baxter: Jimmy Bennett
Congressman Long: John Goodman
Rita: Wanda Sykes
Marty: John Michael Higgins
MPAA rating PG
Running time 78 minutes...
- 6/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Universal Pictures has optioned the comedy pitch Tour de Frank by Andrea King and Andy Marx for the mid- to high-six figures. Tom Shadyac will produce through his Universal-based shingle Shady Acres Entertainment, with an eye toward directing.
The story is set in the world of competitive bicycling.
Shady Acres partner Michael Bostick, who also will produce, said he and Shadyac warmed to the project because "it's a great star vehicle for a comedian." He added, "Tom is an avid cyclist, so it was such a natural fit." Dan Halsted is serving as exec producer.
Universal's Holly Bario is shepherding the project for the studio, while Shady Acres' Amanda Morgan Palmer will oversee for the banner.
Shadyac, who has worked repeatedly with Jim Carrey, most recently in Bruce Almighty, recently wrapped the follow-up Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell. He also produced the upcoming Adam Sandler starrer "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."
King, a former reporter at The Hollywood Reporter, and Marx recently sold a family comedy pitch to Walt Disney Pictures for Jerry Bruckheimer to produce.
The story is set in the world of competitive bicycling.
Shady Acres partner Michael Bostick, who also will produce, said he and Shadyac warmed to the project because "it's a great star vehicle for a comedian." He added, "Tom is an avid cyclist, so it was such a natural fit." Dan Halsted is serving as exec producer.
Universal's Holly Bario is shepherding the project for the studio, while Shady Acres' Amanda Morgan Palmer will oversee for the banner.
Shadyac, who has worked repeatedly with Jim Carrey, most recently in Bruce Almighty, recently wrapped the follow-up Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell. He also produced the upcoming Adam Sandler starrer "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."
King, a former reporter at The Hollywood Reporter, and Marx recently sold a family comedy pitch to Walt Disney Pictures for Jerry Bruckheimer to produce.
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.