Creation opens with the bold statement that Charles Darwin had one of the single greatest ideas in the history of mankind. The movie takes that idea and examines the man behind the book.
Darwin is known for the book On the Origin of Species that introduced the concept of natural selection and evolution. The book still stems controversy, but a lot of controversy occurred before a page was written. The film jumps around in time showing various stages of Darwin’s (Paul Bettany) family life. There is not much showing his research process, which is fortunate because that is a difficult thing to make dynamic on screen. Instead it focuses on the family struggle. His wife, played by Jennifer Connelly, is a stanch Catholic and his daughter adores his father’s look of science.
There are plenty of powerful moments that pit science vs. faith such as Charles’s fear that if there is an eternal afterlife he may never see his wife again for his blasphemous beliefs. As ailments strike the Darwin family, Bettany and Connelly successfully portray the powerful emotions of tension and fear.
However the film dips into unneeded melodrama. Director Jon Amiel handled this balance of fantasy and reality extremely well in the BBC miniseries The Singing Detective, but it seemed too out of place in Creation. This story does not need CGI terrors or extended maggot sequences. They felt too absurd for a story that is very personal. Whenever there is a moment like Toby Jones screaming “You’ve killed God!” or Charles touching a monkey’s finger a la Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, the audience is rolling their eyes and losing focus of the people in the story.
The more effective portrayals of Darwin’s beliefs is when he is in verbal discussions with various people and the dramatizations/flashbacks of the stories he tells to his daughter.
Martha West was very well cast as Annie, Charles’ first daughter. West’s scenes with Bettany are some of the best in the movie because they work so well together and they earn the tenderness between the two characters. These scenes make up for the absurd ones. In fact, Bettany’s performance is consistently strong and properly serves as a worthy emotional guide through the film.
The DVD is full of featurettes exploring the film and its subject. There is a half hour feature that asks the people involved with the film about Darwin and his legacy. Unfortunately it’s more of a fluff piece designed to get people to check out the film instead of a real discussion. There is more probing in the three-part feature entitled “Debating Darwin.” It addresses some of the scientific points, but is eclipsed by Professor Lewis Wolbert who constantly makes powerful statements against the idea of God.
“Pollard on Film: Creation” is a small feature that isn’t necessarily a critical look at the material, but basically summaries the film. Then it leads into a two-minute examination of belief that is not exactly educational, but just plain odd. He says something and then it appears instantly like a PowerPoint slide just to make sure we were listening. There is also a seven-part series called “Digging Deeper Into Darwin” that relies too heavily on film clips from Creation instead of giving us new material. If you are still wanting more there is also an audio commentary with the director. Amiel is very engaging throughout giving various tidbits and praise.
Film: 3.5 Yaps
Extras: 3 Yaps