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Movies / Upcoming / Creation
Creation

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Creation (2009)

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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.

Rated: PG

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:25-09-2009

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... 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 death, Darwin is torn between his love for his deeply religious wife and his own growing belief in a world where God has no place. He finds himself caught in a battle between faith and reason, love and truth. This is the extraordinary story of Charles Darwin and how his master-work “The Origin of Species” came to light. It tells of a global revolution played out in the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most provocative idea in history – evolution; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child.

Charles Darwin is played by acclaimed British actor Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, A Beautiful Mind, Inkheart), and his wife Emma Darwin is played by his real-life wife, Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (Blood Diamond, A Beautiful Mind, Requiem For a Dream, The Day the Earth Stood Still). Directed by Jon Amiel (Entrapment, Copycat, Sommersby, The Core,) from a screenplay by John Collee (Master and the Commander: The Far Side of the World, Happy Feet), CREATION is based upon Randal Keynes’ book, ‘Annie’s Box’, about the life of his great great grandfather, Charles Darwin.--© Official Site [More]

Starring: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones, Jeremy Northam

Starring: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones, Jeremy Northam, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martha West

Director: Jon Amiel

Director: Jon Amiel
Studio: Newmarket Films

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Reviews for Creation

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Thoughtful, moving, and Bettany is brilliant. To be reminded of the power of love to redeem and repair, catch Creation.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/25/09
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Don’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’

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
09/25/09
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/25/09
Richard Luck
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/25/09
Kevin Maher
Kevin Maher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This 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.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/25/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With so much material to draw on it feels slightly disappointing that there’s no sense of awe or wonder when the credits roll.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
09/25/09
Ailsa Caine
Ailsa Caine
Little White Lies

It's a boldly small approach to a big subject and, except for Bettany's performance, it feels miscalculated.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment Comment
09/25/09
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
Digital Spy

Amiel has fashioned a quietly compelling story that brightens as a reinvigorated Darwin finds closure and the printing presses can begin rolling.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
09/25/09
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

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.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
09/25/09
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Total Film

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.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
09/25/09
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

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.

Full Review Source: Filmstar Magazine | comment Comment
09/25/09
James Cameron-Wilson
James Cameron-Wilson
Filmstar Magazine

Creation is an elephantine, but forgettable biopic.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
09/25/09
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Intelligent, touching and, just maybe, a film to grab gongs come awards season.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/25/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

A well-made piece of period drama that sorely lacks any lightness or passion.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
09/25/09
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

A bit more of Bettany sparkling as Darwin recounts his incredible journeys would have lifted Creation.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
09/25/09
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A sub-plot features an orang-utan; it is no exaggeration to say that she is the most moving performer on screen.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment 1 Comment
09/25/09
Martin Hoyle
Martin Hoyle
Financial Times

There is nothing revolutionary about Creation but it tells an absorbing true story and finds a human perspective to some extraordinary historical events.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment Comment
09/25/09
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

A sad, searching piece of work about the reluctant labour of a great idea.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/25/09
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/25/09
Andrew O'Hagan
Andrew O'Hagan
This is London

The filmmakers offer a fresh angle on a controversial topic. And it's an imaginative, human approach that brings it vividly to life.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/25/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
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