Ira Kane: David Duchovny	Allison Reed: Julianne Moore
Harry Block: Orlando Jones	Wayne Green: Seann William Scott
Dr. Woodman: Ted Levine	Governor of Arizona: Dan Aykroyd
Deke: Ethan Suplee	Director: Ivan Reitman

30 Second Bottom Line: A meteorite falls to earth and releases a new life form that mimics earth's evolutionary process at a super rapid rate, from a one-cell organism to giant lizards and primates. Scientists from a small community college, who are at times brilliant and often inept, try to save the world, much like the heroes in Independence Day.

Story Line: Wayne Green (Seann William Scott) is at the scene, in the Arizona desert, when a meteorite falls to the earth while he is practicing for his firefighter's exam. He's an off-center character who seemingly has the will, but not necessarily the ability to make the cut as a fireman.

Ira Kane and Harry Block (David Duchovny and Orlando Jones) are instructors at Glen Canyon Community College, which to put it mildly, abuses the term "institution of higher learning." Ira was dishonorably discharged from the Army because of his incompetence. He became known for giving people "The Kane Madness" because of an experimental drug that had unplanned side effects, such as uncontrolled flatulence, bleeding gums and facial paralysis. Before the Army and the CDC arrive at the scene of the fallen meteor, Ira and Harry make a visit and take some samples back to their lab at the college.

Just about the time that Harry is dreaming of getting a Nobel Peace Prize for their work, the US government arrives, en masse, to take over the meteorite site and Ira is reacquainted with former colleagues Allison Reed (Julianne Moore) of the CDC and Dr. Woodman (Ted Levine) of the Department of US Army Research.

Allison and Woodman use their authority to keep Ira and Harry away from the site for a few weeks and by the time they return, they observe that new organisms have developed at a rate that took evolution, as we know it, over two billion years on earth.

As the organisms evolve, some are passive, while others go on the attack. One of the latter is an alligator-like creature that comes out of the water and kills a man on a golf course, a joyless character, not to be missed. It soon dies because it seems that the creatures can live in the underground atmosphere of caves or in water, but not on the earth's surface, because they are not "oxygen tolerant"…YET!

Tell Me More About It: There are many funny scenes in Evolution that make it worthwhile to see. When Harry is infected with a dragonfly size insect that is moving through his body, his reaction about what to do, and those around him, is hilarious. When a dying creature on the surface gives birth to a large flying bird, its journey through a shopping mall, with a woman in its beak who was about to shoplift clothes, is memorable. And when Ira, Harry, Wayne, Deke and Allison team up to save the world, we get the thrill of a film like Independence Day.

Dr. Woodman's approach to saving the US from the creatures, destined to overrun the lower 48 in two months, is to napalm them. Ira and Harry think that an ingredient, which happens to be in Head and Shoulders shampoo, is the answer. I think I may have finally met a product placement I really liked!

Julianne Moore was a little hard to accept at first because of some of her slap stick antics like tripping, getting her coat snagged and running into a plate glass window. After seeing her in Hannibal and Magnolia, more serious roles, even though she was funny as a clown in her cameo appearance in The Ladies Man, it took a little getting used to in Evolution. As I reflect on it, she was doing what needed to be done so that she would not be considered too unyielding a character. For you serious Julianne Moore fans, if you get in the mind-set of seeing an Eddie Murphy type movie, you'll be ready for this imaginative and hilarious film.

We can guess who is right in their position on handling the situation; we know who will win the battle between the creatures and the humans; and for sure, there is no doubt about which boy gets which girl in the end.

The subtle racial humor with respect to Harry has a certain amount of satire to it that is not so in your face that you can enjoy it. Director Ivan Reitman says, "One of the things that I hope people will notice is David and Orlando's relationship in terms of how black/white friendships are characterized on film. ...It's two really intelligent guys who are at times equally smart, equally adept, equally on top and equally stupid. It's not always the street guy who knows one thing and the education guy who knows another. We work a dynamic that's somewhat different."

Although silly and absurd on one hand, this is not your typical crude humor movie. The special effects are used to support the plot line. While Ira and Harry can say some dumb things, they are not dummies. What the audience likes best are the inside jokes, such as the discussion about fearing the government when Ira says "…the government…I know those people." Only David Duchovny could say those words and bring the house down.

David Duchovny: Return to Me	Julianne Moore: Hannibal
Orlando Jones: Say it isn't so	Seann William Scott: Final Destination
Ted Levine: The Fast and Furious	Dan Aykroyd: Pearl Harbor
Ethan Suplee: Blow	Ivan Reitman: Road Trip