A simple and silly comedy, “”Evan Almighty”” is a good laugh – if you can stomach a couple hours of those indigestible, regurgitated stock characters who give PG movies such a bad name.

Steve Carell stars as a man trying to juggle his new spot in Congress with living up to the hopes of his family, and his busy life gets much busier when he has to build an ark on top of all that.

At God’s command, Carell turns into a modern-day Noah: bearded, robed and followed by animals and a great many naughty birds. This all gets slightly in the way of his position in Congress. The film’s villain, Congressman Long (John Goodman), is attempting to pass legislation enabling him to turn nature reserves into developments, and Carell must stand up to this bully and save the world – well, his family and a few raccoons, at least.

The special effects in Evan Almighty, reportedly very costly, are shown off at every opportunity. An array of exotic animals appears whenever possible, and flood waters surge through the city with apparently no casualties. Where the special effects should stun us, all we really end up doing is scoffing and saying “”Yeah, but how … ?””

While the family humor and Carell’s dancing bring some smiles, the oversimplified vilifying of politics and animal-poo jokes quickly grow tiresome.

– Astrid Duffy