Creation (2009)
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 110
Fresh: 50 | Rotten: 60
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.
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 18
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.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 24,396
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Movie Info
Actor Paul Bettany and his real-life wife, Jennifer Connelly, star as controversial English scientist Charles Darwin and his wife, Emily, in this biopic adapted from Randal Keynes' book Annie's Box, which tells the story of Darwin's struggle to reconcile his religious views following the death of his beloved daughter, Annie. John Collee adapts Keynes' revelatory tome (Keynes is Darwin's great-great grandson) for director Jon Amiel. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Cast
-
Paul Bettany
Charles Darwin -
Jennifer Connelly
Emma Darwin -
Jeremy Northam
Reverend Innes -
Toby Jones
Thomas Huxley -
Benedict Cumberbatch
Joseph Hooker -
Jim Carter
Parslow -
Bill Paterson
Dr. Gully -
Martha West
Annie Darwin -
Ian Kelly
Captain Fitzroy -
Guy Henry
Technician -
Anabolena Rodriguez
Fuegia Basket -
Paul Campbell VIII
Boat Memory -
Zak Davies
Jemmy Button -
Teresa Churcher
Mrs. Davies -
Freya Parks
Etty Darwin -
Christopher Dunkin
George Darwin -
Gene Goodman
Franky Darwin -
Harrison Sansostri
Lenny Darwin -
Ellie Haddington
Nanny Brodie -
Richard Ridings
Thatcher -
Ian Mercer
Goodman -
Robert Glenister
Dr. Holland -
Catherine Terris
Landlady -
Ken Drury
Landlord -
Nigel Bowden
Zookeeper
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All Critics (111) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (60) | DVD (2)
Some good acting and fine cinematography are watered down in a tepid yawner that moves with the speed of natural selection, but without its irresistible sense of purpose.
Top CriticAn intriguing portrait of a man and a time that changed everything.
Jon Amiel, the film's director, tells his story with respect and some restraint, showing how sad and weakened Charles is and yet not ratcheting up his grief into unseemly melodrama.
A great moment in the history of ideas does not necessarily make for a great movie.
Bettany's sheepish performance fails to engage, and Connelly, his wife in real life, seems distant and frigid. There is no sense of romance between them. That may be accurate, but it's no fun to watch.
While the film's flashbacks and -forwards are disorienting, the performances give the film propulsion and poignancy.
It became tedious when focusing on his [Darwin's] brittle emotions, often in a non-linear and random sort of way.
Director Jon Amiel has delivered on the promise of a good script, with a film that has a pleasing sense of forward motion, characters who suffer deeply, but are attractive because of it, morally, for the way they struggle through with love and belief.
Jon Amiel's film about Charles Darwin is a poorly structured and frequently drab affair focused on Darwin's daughter Annie, with occasional bursts of energy thanks to the wildlife cinematography and bouts of Victorian bonhomie.
Best described as Finding Neverland meets A Beautiful Mind, Creation meanders in dramatic urgency at times, but never loses a total connection with its audience.
The film indulges in one little bit of overkill towards the end, so unnecessary, but overall Creation is a very fine film indeed.
Creation is an emotionally complex film that examines faith, love, grief and passion through the key events that propelled Darwin to finish one of the most important books ever written.
The chief culprits are a laboured, poorly structured script by Aussie John Collee; the hackneyed device of having Darwin interact with the ghost of his dead daughter; and Jon Amiel's heavy-handed direction.
With solid performances, this film provides an interesting alternative look at one of the most influential scientists of the modern era.
It's an intelligent and emotional film, which (judging by the struggle the filmmakers had of getting an American distributor) proves that Darwin is still making people think, more than 120 years after his death.
Like the best of breeds, Creation is somewhat of a mixed bag.
For the most part, it's a sombre and gloomy story about a dark period in Charles and Emma Darwin's lives in which the profoundly Christian Emma is in spiritual conflict with her husband over his scientific approach to the origin of species, including man
Shows that all faith, any faith, is made stronger through questioning and emotional trial.
A mess.
Disappointingly soapy drama about the domestic life of Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany). Jennifer Connelly plays his wife, Emma. A squandered opportunity.
Complex drama gives teens and adults reason to think.
A bit of a depressing slog, but thanks to the performances of its leads, it does have a satisfying ending.
Bettany conveys with poetic intensity and an excruciating anxiety, a man torn by a terrible discovered truth he can hardly bear to acknowledge as he faces public scorn and resentment at home, a kind of second coming of Adam booted out of the Garden.
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