Lack of good storyline.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Apart from a rosy opening, a truly wretched film, depicting Darwin as delusional and constantly hallucinating, everything as dark, twisted, conflicting and psychologically disturbed, more like a horror film. It was too dark to watch to the end and I went and looked up his bio to see if the film was true to life: it seems it isn't, apart from his stomach upsets: the black wretched delusional conflict that runs throughout the film reflects more a product of an ill film production than the reality. Look forward to a different film that I'll enjoy watching and go away feeling some benefit from. Obviously some like the film, but if you want something either true to life or balanced or uplifting, give this a skip and watch something else. d

Creation (what an ironic title) is about Darwin's life prior to the publishing of On the Origin Of the Species. Paul Bettany (Silas the albino monk in the Da Vinci Code, Charles in A Beautiful Mind) plays Darwin. He is on screen almost the entire movie. Darwin has all manner of troubles. He is physically ill. He has tremors, hallucinations and phobias. Behind it all is his terror of Christians and their extreme rejection of his life work. He is no hero. He has not the bravery to tell the Christians where to stuff it. Without a combative nature, it is just too difficult to oppose almost the entire society. Even his wife disapproves of his work.The movie is also about the primitive state of medicine in Victorian times. Darwin loses his bright inquisitive daughter despite all the inept attempts to cure her. In hindsight, they did more harm than good.The special effects of the hallucinations remind me of those in a Beautiful Mind, where, like the characters, you have trouble keeping track of what is real. They could have used some hallucinations with morphing to illustrate his insight about gradual change, but they didn't.Unfortunately, the movie does almost nothing to explain evolution, other than making a parallel between artificial and natural selection. Neither does it show the debates. I read the book in the 1960s. Its placid prose gave no hint of the sturm and drang lay behind its composition.Benedict Cumberbatch plays Joseph Hooker, a very charming character, who played a big part in Darwin's life. Unfortunately, he was on screen only briefly.I suspect the low ratings of this movie have two sources: creationists who rejected it without even bothering to see it, and because it is just so sad seeing Darwin, considered the greatest scientist of all time, suffer at the hands of ignorant Christians.

I enjoyed this film. I am a biologist, and I found a vision of Darwin's life that I didn't expected. For me, the most interesting point of this movie is the focus on Darwin's feelings during just a segment of his life. I think that the main idea behind the whole story is Darwin's loneliness. Loneliness in the world of science, in the society, in marriage. Very powerful scenes. The face of Darwin's when Huxley says "you kill God" shows his inner conflicts; also, in my view, T. Huxley (T. Jones: excellent!) attitude suggest some encrypted envy! Something very difficult to transmit in a few seconds of film, but achieved! The scene with pigeons is very powerful too and with more than the direct meaning. In fact, many scenes have a second meaning, which make this film very rich. I did not expected historical accuracy, just a good film based on real events. So, I find something much better than what I expected. Bettany's performance was great. I only regret that Annie Darwin dead was shown. The absence would be more powerful. For this reason this film is not a 10. About the title: I think that simply refers to the creation of Darwin's book, so it is entirely correct and reflects in just a word the contents of the story. See a reproduction of a portrait of C. Darwin made by George Richmond in 1840. Paul Bettany in this film is really alike to the image in this portrait! I regret there is many reviews of this films saying that it did not reflect reality. I think that this is not the goal of art. Also, I regret that many reviewers say that this film is boring. I think that "Creation" is far away from boring. I will keep this film in my mind forever.

I wasn't expecting CGI'd ultra dramatics, nor comic charisma from Paul Bettany, as Charles Darwin, but this could have been so much more. Shown on BBC4, Creation runs to more an extended TV drama, which I'm sure is fine for many viewers. It's directed by Sommersby director Jon Amiel.Considering the enormity of his 'discovery' itself, the screenplay relies on and centres around domestic drama too much. Admittedly, some aspects of these play pivotal roles; Darwin's wife (played by Bettany's real-life wife Jennifer Connelly) was devoutly religious and as is well known, his theories split religion and theologians deeply.I didn't want a straight history lesson but would have preferred one to the often tangents into psychological ghost story, bereaving as Darwin does for his young daughter. OK, he was a troubled man, something I didn't know about but nightmares and hallucinations seemingly every five minutes is wearying and I think, get in the way of the story.The period detail is fine but there an awful lot of grey-sky laden scenes and landscapes. Bettany himself hasn't always been in roles where he's acted well, in this case, he's good, without being that memorable - which may suit the nature of this sober and rather sombre drama better.