Darwin’s personal tragedies and intellectual dilemmas, coupled with his moral struggles, are rife with possibilities, but Amiel disappoints. He just can’t seem to rise above the level of pedestrian drama.
Comment
11/20/09
Creation (2009)
59
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:27
Fresh:16
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: This Charles Darwin biopic is curiously dispassionate, but Creation contains some of director Jon Amiel's best work, and Paul Bettany's performance is not to be missed.
Synopsis: CREATION is the powerful and true-life tale of Charles Darwin and the most explosive idea in history. A world-renowned scientist, and a dedicated family man struggling to accept his daughter’s... [More]
Starring: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones, Jeremy Northam
Director: Jon Amiel
Reviews for Creation
Thoughtful, moving, and Bettany is brilliant. To be reminded of the power of love to redeem and repair, catch Creation.
09/25/09
Top CriticDon’t expect anything too radical from this infuriatingly soft yet still pleasantly subdued and poignant screen adaptation of Randal Keynes’s book ‘Annie’s Box’
09/25/09
Flawed as it might be, Creation is still Amiel's best movie to date. Wonderfully mounted, the picture successfully dramatises key moments in Darwin's life.
09/25/09
Bettany himself seems hamstrung by a part that requires lots of concentrated frowns and fey swooning, and the ability to render credible a ridiculous rubber baldy cap.
09/25/09
Top CriticThis gentle, heartfelt and well-acted film about Charles Darwin and his personal agony preceding the 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species does not shy away from the issues. But it personalises them, and places them in a new context.
09/25/09
Top CriticWith so much material to draw on it feels slightly disappointing that there’s no sense of awe or wonder when the credits roll.
09/25/09
It's a boldly small approach to a big subject and, except for Bettany's performance, it feels miscalculated.
09/25/09
Amiel has fashioned a quietly compelling story that brightens as a reinvigorated Darwin finds closure and the printing presses can begin rolling.
09/25/09
This worthy, timely portrait will no doubt figure prominently in next year’s awards season. Would that it had more of the revolutionary daring of Darwin’s writings.
09/25/09
Even atheists may smart at the family picnic where a character intones, "All of nature is a battlefield," while neat cucumber sarnies are passed about.
09/25/09
By focusing on the naturalist's reclusiveness, the film deprives the viewer of the visceral rush of discovery that we're conditioned to associate with Darwin.
09/25/09
Creation is an elephantine, but forgettable biopic.
09/25/09
Intelligent, touching and, just maybe, a film to grab gongs come awards season.
09/25/09
A well-made piece of period drama that sorely lacks any lightness or passion.
09/25/09
A bit more of Bettany sparkling as Darwin recounts his incredible journeys would have lifted Creation.
09/25/09
Top CriticA sub-plot features an orang-utan; it is no exaggeration to say that she is the most moving performer on screen.
09/25/09
There is nothing revolutionary about Creation but it tells an absorbing true story and finds a human perspective to some extraordinary historical events.
09/25/09
A sad, searching piece of work about the reluctant labour of a great idea.
09/25/09
The film is beautifully shot and there are dreamy sequences that convey, better than anything I’ve seen or read, the fantastical, creative quality of Darwin’s mind.
09/25/09
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