Creation – Movie Review

Recently I had the chance to watch the Charles Darwin biopic Creation, starring Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale, The Da Vinci Code) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream). Based on a retrospective biography by Darwin’s own great-great-grandson Randal Keynes OBE (Annie’s Box), Creation follows the life and times of Darwin and his family as he struggles with his world-altering theory.

Courtesy of http://www.impawards.com

Although the film mentions most of the major observations that led Darwin to his conclusion of evolution through natural selection (Malthus, barnacles, giant sloths, etc), the story stays away from science and instead paints a picture of what Darwin may have been dealing with emotionally. And according to this film, it was a very dark and bleak picture.

Although I could never imagine what Darwin was going through (as I’ve never had an idea that revolutionized the way the world thinks), I would like to believe that in reality Darwin wasn’t delusional and as wracked with grief as he was portrayed in this film. I can understand that he was under a great deal of stress and that the death of his daughter weighed on his mind, but to portray him as just this side of the psych ward may be pushing it a bit far. I expect that this had much to do with the director wanting to take a story about a man writing an important book and make it into something that would make some money and appeal to the public, but I feel that it was sensationalized a little too much.

With that out of the way, I really enjoyed this movie. The interaction between Darwin and his wife/cousin Emma seemed extremely natural (as it should since Bettany and Connelly are married in real life) and their opposing views on religion and science provide some very interesting dialogue, and showcase an extremely loving couple. Likewise, Darwin’s relationship with his daughter Annie provides a direct line into his mind and thoughts (well, as direct as a fictional account can create) and which I believe would be fairly accurate. The stories that Darwin recounts to his daughter about his time aboard the Beagle are richly drawn out and full of discovery, fun, and adventure. Add to that his rabid naturalist skills and his constant need to observe and experiment, and Darwin is portrayed as a biologist’s dream father. Paul Bettany did an excellent job of making me believe he truly was Charles Darwin, both looking and sounding the part convincingly well. Supporting roles were also excellently filled (I especially liked Toby Jones as Thomas Huxley) and the lavish and intricate sets reflected my own vision about the types of things that Darwin would fill his office with (jars of embryos, stuffed finches, pinned arthropods, and other cool stuff from his travels).

Overall, I think that most biologists would enjoy this movie, and I would recommend it to anyone (especially biological science students) looking for an intimate look behind the curtain of science that surrounds Charles Darwin, and the true meaning of stress!