Creation

Creation stars Paul Bettany as Charles Darwin and follows the famed scientist as he struggles to complete his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species, with the bulk of his inner turmoil stemming from both the death of his beloved daughter and from the opposition of his deeply religious wife (Jennifer Connelly’s Emma). There’s little doubt that Creation opens with a fair amount of promise, as screenwriter John Collee initially focuses on Darwin’s ongoing anguish over his scientific endeavors – with the vehemence of his colleagues (eg one tells him that he has effectively “killed god”) causing a considerable amount of friction within his home life. It’s that emphasis on Darwin’s familial affairs that ultimately sinks the movie, with the almost unbearably slow pace with which filmmaker Jon Amiel has infused the proceedings undoubtedly exacerbating its various problems. Despite the movie’s deliberateness, however, Darwin never entirely becomes the compelling figure that one might’ve expected – with the viewer’s inability to form any kind of emotional investment in his problems making it almost impossible to sympathize with his plight. This is hardly Bettany’s fault, though; the actor delivers a subtle yet enthralling performance that quickly proves a highlight within the film (and Connelly is just as good as Darwin’s fierce wife). It’s not until Creation heads into its final stretch that it begins to improve slightly, with Darwin’s newfound desire to complete his work infusing the film with a sorely-missed atmosphere of urgency – yet this does prove to be a case of too-little-too-late and it’s inevitably impossible to label the movie as anything more than a sporadically intriguing misfire.

** out of ****