2007年VOA标准英语-Story of Noah's Ark Gets Warm-Hearted Comic Upd

By Alan Silverman
Holllywood
17 June 2007

The biblical story of Noah and the ark gets a warm-hearted comic update in a sequel to the 2003 hit film Bruce Almighty¹. This time Steve Carell is the star and Alan Silverman has a look at Evan Almighty.

Evan (Steve Carell) and God (Morgan Freeman) in Evan Almighty

Evan Baxter was a TV news anchor in Bruce Almighty, in which God appears to his colleague played by Jim Carrey. In the sequel, Evan, played by Steve Carell, moves from the studio to the campaign trail. Elected to Congress on a pledge to "change the world," he quickly learns that Washington politics do not always live up to ideals; and Evan's ideals are put to the test when a distinguished² man in a white suit miraculously³ appears in his life with a remarkable⁴ request.

Skeptical⁵ at first (to say the least), Evan starts to believe ...especially when animals of all sorts begin showing up at his doorstep, two by two.

Steve Carell says he quickly had to get over the old show business warning against working with animals or small children. "I do like animals," he says. "I must say I liked some better than others. In terms of this movie, the birds were not particularly my favorites. It is hard to bond with an animal that is essentially⁶ [defecating] on you. But the elephants and the giraffes and the alpacas ...they were fun. They were nice; and to be that close to an animal is a very different experience because I've always seen animals at the zoo or on television, but to be a couple of feet from their faces is a very different and kind of moving experience because you can see what they're thinking in a way. You get a much greater view of who they are and what they are and much more of an essence of what makes them up."

But Carell's great skill is comedy and he says the furry⁷ and feathered co-stars can be funny. "Oh sure because they are unpredictable. You don't know where they are going to go and you just have to adapt to whatever they are doing. I think there is a lot of improvisation⁸ involved in working with animals and it's like anything else: the more you can listen and pay attention, the better a scene is going to go and that holds true for working with an animal because they don't know they're in a scene. They don't know they're doing a movie. They're just sort of being themselves so you just have to go with it," he says.

Evan Almighty is directed by Tom Shadyac, who also made Bruce Almighty. That original film was a bit on the racy side with humor geared toward adult audiences; but Shadyac says "Evan" is much more family-friendly. "This is a movie with an ark, animals and a flood. Big boat. We had to be able to invite kids to this movie. We had to be able to invite grandmothers to this movie. It's the Noah's Ark story, a story for everybody," he says.

Shadyac insists, however, that it is not a religious movie. "If there is a point in this movie, I think (Ralph Waldo) Emerson said it best: 'we are idolaters of magnitude.' We think that only big things can effect change, so we have to be elected to Congress to change things ...or donate hundreds of millions of dollars and then we're important. I think this movie says something very different: that change starts with the individual in the smallest of acts (and) the most intimate of moments," he says.

Carell adds that he was drawn⁹ to the story because it says something important ...and is still funny. "I thought what was intriguing¹⁰ about this character is that he starts as sort of a blow hard - a self-centered, preening¹¹ public figure - and he is reduced to something else: the essence of who he really is. We joke about there being a 'arc' to the character, but I think that is it: he starts at one place and ends up in another. In the process we see what he's going through and it's funny," he says.

Evan Almighty also features Morgan Freeman, reprising the role of God that he played in the first film.

Lauren Graham co-stars as Evan's wife who is not sure why her husband is acting¹² this way, but ultimately joins his cause. John Goodman is a corrupt¹³ politician whose profit-driven, environment-destroying policies bring on divine intervention¹⁴. Parts of Evan Almighty were filmed on location in Washington DC and, while some of the animals are created with digital effects, many of the creatures on screen are real.

1 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

2 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

3 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

8 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。