Four years ago, God appeared to Bruce Nolan, gave him almighty power and took a vacation. The movie centered on showing how tough it is to run the world and giving Bruce a little perspective on his own life. In that film we also met Evan Baxter, played by Steve Carell, a co-worker and rival on the television news show where they worked. Now, God has revealed himself to Evan, and rather than offering him perspective on his life, or giving him the almighty power, he is there to assist in a prayer to help change the world. The end result is a sweet, if frustrating, movie.
Evan Baxter has left his job as co-anchor of a news show in Buffalo, having been elected to Congress on a platform that promised to "Change the World." Now that he's won the election, uprooted his family, and bought an eco-friendly Hummer, he has to step up and make good on that campaign promise. We all know how politicians love to live up to what they said during their campaign, when winning was the only thing on their mind.
So, we are faced with an Evan Baxter who needs to find a way to make an impact on Congress, and reconnect with his family, which apparently had become second fiddle to his burgeoning career, and it does not start off too well on the family front. No sooner has he moved into his nice new office, he is being buttered up by one of the senior Congressmen, named simply Long (John Goodman), to co-sponsor a bill that would allow development on national park land.
At the same time he is approached to sign the bill, Evan receives a box of old school tools, and a pile of wood. Along with these deliveries, God, played by the returning Morgan Freeman, appears to Evan and instructs him to build an ark, a flood is coming. Evan reacts in the same way that most of us probably would — we don't believe, and try to go about our business. God is persistent, and eventually Evan gives in and begins to build the ark, much to the chagrin of his family and staff.
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