Movie Ministry Series: Tom Shadyac

Today’s post brings comedic relief among the more serious Christian stories that have been told in Hollywood. Director Tom Shadyac brings us two movies that point upward to heaven, and a lifestyle that reflects the Faith life outward. Shadyac came to stardom with the smash hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective after taking a chance on Jim Carrey as the starring role. Both Director and Actor proved to be the true dynamic duo in the comedic film world sharing a background in Catholic upbringing and making several movies that represent their faith together.

One of our focuses between the duo rests in the hit movie Bruce Almighty. The film portrays many concepts within the Christian faith, such as Morgan Freeman as the One God who always has and always will run the cosmos in perfect order. Jim Carrey’s character Bruce Nolan comes full circle within the movie from a troubled man with a troubled life angry at God, to a man full of faith with full trust in the Lord’s plan. While it received mixed reviews and average scores, the film was still viewed by millions of people, bringing back to mind the concept that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and works for the good of those who know Him

Our second movie is a sequel to Bruce Almighty and features Steve Carell as Evan Baxter – Bruce’s rival anchorman. With another appearance of Morgan Freeman as God, Evan Almighty tells us another story of a modern man who needs to answer the call of God no matter how silly or extreme the call may be. Through this film, Shadyac was able to portray environmental consciousness, stating that “man is appointed as steward over the earth” by God. For all the carbon emissions they made building sets and filming, they planted as many trees as needed to zero-out the emissions. Even though it received poor reviews, Evan Almighty did a far more tremendous job in DVD sales as the fourth most rented DVD at its release.

Following the success of his previous films, Shadyac came out with a documentary titled I Am on some of the significant events in his personal life and seeks to answer two questions: “what’s wrong with the world” and “what can we do about it?” Even with its overriding religious theme and Shadyac’s outspoken Christianity, the film received a 23-minute standing ovation at its premier. Tom Shadyac’s presence and influence in comedic Hollywood demonstrates how the Lord can use every aspect of every industry to draw people to Him.