As much as Darwin is demonized by the religious right, it is important to note that he was extremely conflicted about publishing his controversial work, and very troubled, in fact, by the cruelty of the universe he was trying to make sense of. Creation’s focus is on this internal conflict, and its first half is surprisingly melancholy and psychological. Bettany’s Darwin is haunted by hallucinations of his recently deceased daughter and can’t stop dwelling on the violence and chaos he perceives in nature. The film, eager to slip inside his tormented mind, brings the audience along as he imagines, for instance, a baby bird dying and being consumed by the insects and maggots that its mother was feeding it with just minutes earlier. These sequences are the sort of thing one might expect from David Cronenberg or Werner Herzog, and are not often seen in a stately period biopic. Not only are they bold for this reason, but also because such scenes express what some find so frightening about so-called Darwinism. Kudos to the filmmakers for acknowledging this in so potent a fashion.

Later on, as Darwin engages more deeply with his wife and confronts his grief over his daughter’s death, a more contemplative and redemptive tone prevails. I found the film’s depiction of a non-believer’s grief particularly resonant. Creation is certainly not the first film I’ve seen that makes the argument that faith can be distinguished from religious belief, but it makes it particularly well. Darwin’s religious wife Emma is played by Bettany’s real-life wife Jennifer Connelly, and their relationship has an honesty and comfort to it that benefits tremendously from the leads’ natural chemistry. The external pressures on Darwin to publish or repent are offered by excellent supporting players Toby Jones and Jeremy Northam, as Thomas Huxley and Reverend John Innes, respectively. Their prickliness and pushiness reflect the tragic animosities that sometimes occur between friends separated by dogma. Ultimately, though, the film lives and dies on Bettany’s performance, and he carries it all the way. – [DVD]

Biography/Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 6/29/10

The gimmick here is that Fraser can bring characters in books to life by reading from them aloud. In turn someone from real life gets drawn into the books. This apparently happened to Fraser’s wife with the title tome and he needs a new copy so he can read her back out, but his search for one is hampered by the book’s big bad guy (Andy Serkis), whom Fraser unintentionally released.

I like that the film endorses reading books, and I really like the idea of being able to read people out of them. And it’s fun watching familiar literary creations pop up– the ticking crocodile from “Peter Pan,” the flying monkeys and Toto from “The Wizard of Oz” and Rapunzel herself. Not to mention a Minotaur and Excalibur, which Serkis tries to pry loose from its rock.

But the direction by Softley (The Skeleton Key) is so utterly uninspired as to suck from the film any charm or sense of wonder, and the top-notch effects and talented cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany and Jim Broadbent, struggle to compensate. What’s more Fraser, a pro at not taking big effect flicks too seriously, merely mopes around. And the supposedly epic ending is epically unexciting.

Serkis is OK as the sneering villain who loves duct tape, Mirren adds some pep as Fraser’s book-loving aunt, and Broadbent is amusing as the the title tome’s author. He gets the film’s best line, too, at one point yelling to Bettany, “You don’t have to be selfish just because I wrote you like that!”

As a fire-eater read out of the book by Fraser, Bettany, in fact, is the best thing here. He manages some decent depth as a man who misses his wife (Jennifer Connelly in a cameo) and kid and the life he has inside the book. We actually kind of feel for him and his plight, which is more than I can say about anyone or anything else in this infuriatingly inert film. – [DVD]

Adventure/Fantasy/Family

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 6/25/09

The film is based on the bestseller from Sex and the City writers, and serves as a manual for interpreting relationship behaviors and dating protocols. We’re given the intersecting stories of twenty- and thirty-somethings living in Baltimore, all struggling to find love and make it work. The movie’s charm is that it doesn’t try too hard to be funny, yet succeeds in being smart, entertaining, and very recognizable. Is it a “chick flick”? Yeah, maybe, but that will probably depend somewhat on the viewer. So I’m just sayin’ that whether you’re a chick or not, maybe you should give this DVD, which kicks off the summer releases, a try. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 6/2/09