The new Steve Carell movie, Evan Almighty, opens next week. This sequel to Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty made headlines because it is, by far, the most expensive comedy ever made, approaching $200 million in production costs (and probably another $50 million in marketing costs). That’s a lot of money. A movie like that needs a very broad-based appeal. Probably not the best idea to spend that kind of money on a movie that basically writes off and insults the political views of one-third of the United States. Right?

So what’s it about? A friend of Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells reports that it’s “it’s basically a pro-environment rip on the Republicans”:

Freeman’s God calls upon Carell’s Congressman to build the ark to prepare for the big rains on September 22nd. And then the rains come and then…perhaps I shouldn’t say. Suffice that the real focus of this film isn’t God’s wrath but Man’s greed. It turns out there’s been a man-made dambreak that causes this gigantic flood, and it’s mainly the fault of a pro-business Congressman played by John Goodman who’s been helping his fat-cat pallies buy lots of land in parks and then winking at their short-cut moves (i.e., not building a dam properly).

Variety’s Anne Thompson, who probably knows as much about Christian messages in the heartland as Howard Dean did, writes: “Director Tom Shadyac and writer Steve Oederkerk’s old-school Christian message will play well in America’s heartland.”

Perhaps.