Creation

2009 marked the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking treatise On the Origin of Species, which laid the foundation for our understanding of evolution. Director Jon Amiel's biopic Creation opens with the middle-aged Darwin (Paul Bettany) engaged in painstaking scientific research in a quiet English village. While he and his wife (also first cousin) Emma (Jennifer Connelly) have several adorable children, Darwin is particularly devoted to his inquisitive 10-year-old daughter, Annie (Martha West), who tragically succumbs to a mysterious illness. The child's agonizing death strengthens Darwin's logical but then-scandalous conviction that the laws of nature trump any possibility of divine mercy, an idea that causes an emotional rift with the devout Emma and verbal confrontations with the local preacher (Jeremy Northam), who denounces Darwin as a dangerous heretic for his unorthodox observations and revolutionary findings. Based on Darwin's great-great-grandson Randal Keynes' nonfiction book Annie's Box, the promising science-vs.-faith premise here unfortunately devolves into a pedestrian domestic melodrama about a tormented, repressed scholar and his long-suffering spouse. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary with director Jon Amiel, “The Battle for Charles Darwin” making-of featurette (23 min.), seven production segments on “Digging Deeper Into Darwin” (26 min. total), three featurettes on “Debating Darwin” (14 min. total), a “Pollard on Film” critique featurette (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)