Watched: Creation
Observations:
- Hm. Mixed feelings about this. It feels like it was trying to accomplish a little too much, and consequently spread itself a little thin. What I will admit is that in the intervening years, Toby Jones and Benedict Cumberbatch have really made a name for themselves, so to see them more or less disappear half way through is probably more jarring now than it was then.
- Paul Bettany is probably the only really consistent element, which is a relief given that he’s in more or less every frame. Jennifer Connelly unfortunately over-acts a little, and so many characters are one-dimensional. You could attribute this to Darwin’s insularity, but it feels like lazy writing.
- Bettany really delivers a stellar performance, though, running the full gamut of soul-wrenching terror to pioneering excitement over the course of the film; really, it’s worth watching solely for that. The relationship with his daughter is one of the best-executed elements of the film; Martha West is extraordinary as Anne Darwin, the eldest daughter. Apparently Dominic West is her Dad. So there’s that.
- This still disappointed me a little. There are a few hallucinatory sequences that don’t quite feel deserved - Darwin was understandably tortured by his conscience, but communicating that feeling with a reanimated preserved foetus wasn’t really that effective. This sometimes felt like it was trying to stride the gap between Pride and Prejudice and Videodrome, and suffered for it.
- Still glad I watched it, though, if only because Paul Bettany is a remarkable actor who has made a lot of films far worse than this one. Remember Legion? No? That’s probably for the best.