Phil Cooke

EVAN ALMIGHTY: Linda Seger's Look at the Film

For all you budding screenwriters, here's an interesting perspective on "Evan Almighty" from Dr. Linda Seger, (Making a Good Script Great, and Creating Unforgettable Characters). I'm a great fan of Linda's work and I think you'll enjoy her perspective as one of the top writing teachers in Hollywood:

If you saw the film, Evan Almighty, you were probably entertained. You may have thought about your relationships with God as a result of the film, or thought about your faith, your trust, or even thought about the crazy things that you have sometimes felt God asked of you. If the film led you to think about it, as well as to be entertained, then it the film has worked well, doing what a good film is supposed to do.

The film is a good one for Christian writers to study, as well as Christian audiences to think about, because it shows ways for Christians to work with Christian ideas in cinematic ways.

Many writers begin writing a script by doing a technique called “What If?” The writer begins by asking what would the consequences be IF certain things happened. “WHAT IF a boy and a girl from two different cultures, or two different religions, or two different economic classes were to fall in love? What would happen?” Or, “WHAT IF a young man were Jewish, or Christian, in Germany in 1939? How would he react to Hitler?” Or, “WHAT IF God were to ask a modern day man to build an ark?” The question not only leads the writer to some creative ideas, but it also might lead the audience to similar conclusions as they think about their own lives after watching the film.

The more deeply the writer can explore this idea throughout the entire script, the more the audience has a kind of dialogue with the film. Perhaps, as you watched the film, you wondered at what point you would have said “yes” to God’s crazy idea for you. You might have wondered how persuasive or how pushy God would have had to be with you, before you agreed to this request. You might have wondered what you would do if your spouse had begun doing what Evan did. How long before you would have wondered if your spouse was crazy, or dangerous. How long would you have stayed before deciding that it was just too much?

Perhaps this led you to questions about faith and trust in God, and how difficult it can be, especially when you’re led down roads which seem to make no sense. Although a good film doesn’t lead you to ask too many questions while watching the film (after all, you’re supposed to be enjoying it, and be engaged in the experience), a good film raises some questions for you to think about after the film is over. If you think too much while watching the film, you can be distanced from the film, and involved intellectually, rather than emotionally.

A good film is really about our lives, in one way or another. If it doesn’t have something to say to us, then we feel our time in the theater is wasted. It doesn’t have to always be deep and profound, but hopefully we feel some connection with the story and the characters and feel that they’ve told us something about our own lives.
A good film can be interpreted in several different ways. It isn’t a sermon, nor is it meant to be preachy, or to carry a message that is simply told to us.

One of my drama teachers once compared a film to those pictures we used to do when we were kids, where we had to connect the dots to see a picture and then, we’d see that the picture was of a chicken, or a horse, or a house. It’s similar to the star-gazer or astronomer who looked up at the sky and connected the dots between the stars, and said, “That’s the big dipper” or “that’s Taurus, the bull” because, when he connected the dots, it seemed to look like a dipper or the outline of a bull. Another person might come along and connect the dots differently.

When audiences go to the movie theater, they also think about what the film means and individuals might connect the dots differently, although always looking for clues within the movie to try to figure out what the writer was trying to say with the story. When watching Evan Almighty, you might have decided that this is a story about faith and trust in God. There is plenty of evidence in the film to lead to that valid interpretation – since Evan had to have faith in God, even when it looked like all was lost. Or, you might have decided it was a story about corruption and graft and bribery, and how the Congressman’s corruption led to the tragedy of the dam breaking. You might decide that the film was about how we can all get sucked in by greed, and the desire for power, just like Evan, who was looking for his opportunity to make a name for himself by signing on to a bill that didn’t seem like a good bill (and there is plenty of evidence that suggests that the filmmakers didn’t believe that this was a good bill.) You might decide that an environmental statement was being made, about saving the animals and the land. Or you might decide this film was about co-operation, since God tells Evan that the animals came in two by two, side by side, and then reinforces that idea by showing how Evan’s family begins to work more closely together, side by side. All of these interpretations would be valid, and even compatible. A good film will speak to audiences on many levels, although it will also take some stands that don’t allow other interpretations. You couldn’t come away from this film and decide that God didn’t care about animals, or that corruption was all right, or that it doesn’t matter whether we listen to God or not.

A good film also is creative and original. It gives us an element of surprise, of the unexpected, so we have fun with the story. We might think, “Who would have thought about that? Wasn’t that clever!”

You may have smiled, or even laughed out loud, when the animals began to follow Evan, two by two. You might have smiled at the alpaca, and wondered who would have thought of the alpaca. You might have been surprised with how clever the writer was, thinking of the robe, and the beard, and the delivery of wood from Go-For-Wood. You may have suspected that the writer and director was a Christian, (and you would have been right!) and enjoyed how they played with Biblical material with respect and reverence and creativity and humor. And clearly the writer and director knew their Bible, and knew Genesis 6:14.

As a Christian writer, you may find this movie is a good model for creative use of Christian stories, or for using the “What If” technique, or for thinking through the ideas you want to explore in your story. And as an audience member, you may find the film leads to good discussion about important Christian issues such as trust and faith and following a Call while also being entertaining. If so, the film has done its work well.

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Dr. Linda Seger is a script consultant, seminar leader, and the author of 8 books on screenwriting. She’s a Christian and a Quaker.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.