Beautiful work about how difficut it is to defy some beliefs and face some of our problems.

"Jon Amiel's portrait of Darwin's efforts to accept and acclimate to a new reality is mucked up by all manner of directorial flim-flam." - Nick Schager

Bettany gives it his all but this film is too unremarkable to make any kind of lasting impact. It's not a bad movie, just highly uneven. Watch it for Bettany's commendable performance.

Creation is a beautifully shot and well acted film about the later life of Charles Darwin as he struggles to put his theory of evolution down on paper. The film reminded me of Benjamin Button in that it too is a well shot film that ultimately fails because of a very standard and plain storyline that has been done millions of times. I enjoyed the film, but remarkable it certainly wasn't. I'll remember the documentary-style survival-of-the-fittest scenes showing nature's dark side the longest.

Creation is a beautifully shot and well acted film about the later life of Charles Darwin as he struggles to put his theory of evolution down on paper. The film reminded me of Benjamin Button in that it too is a well shot film that ultimately fails because of a very standard and plain storyline that has been done millions of times. I enjoyed the film, but remarkable it certainly wasn't. I'll remember the documentary-style survival-of-the-fittest scenes showing nature's dark side the longest.

A powerful and masterful piece of film-making. The secret is that underneath all the glitz and glamour of period costumes and creationism and natural history and Darwin's book, the movie is really about a loving father who is simply destroyed, torn to pieces by the loss of his favourite daughter. It's in these critical scenes that we really see how human and frail this historical legend could have been. Very moving stuff - Bettany and the film should be Oscar contenders.

Tracing the origin of The Origin of Species produces the sort of stuffy biopic that once would have starred Paul Muni. Granted, in those days the achievement of Charles Darwin would not have been summed up in such bellicose terms as "You've killed God, sir," and this alone may be sufficiently satisfying for the acolytes of Bill Maher.

boring and without focus

Solid acting with mediocre plot. Nothing really special and that's the problem.

A piece of really good picture and act. Moving.

The versatile Bettany semi-reprises his role as the Darwin-like ship's doctor in "Master and Commander". While some of the most touching elements (the parallel drawn between Anne and the orangutan, and Darwin leaving the decision to publish up to his wife) are apparent fiction, they are very plausible and consistent. Conceiving his theory through his illness, family tragedies and negative religious reaction is well portrayed. "Creation" is the perfect title despite opinions to the contrary.

A wonderful insight into the struggles Darwin's work put his family in. It really is interesting to see the dichotomy between Darwin's research and the things that happened to him personally. Top off the great script with great acting and you have a really good movie.

This Charles Darwin biopic is curiously dispassionate, but Creation contains some of director Jon Amiel's best work, and Paul Bettany's performance is not to be missed.

There are good performances and fleeting moments of exquisite moviemaking, but the experience as a whole is an evolutionary dead end.

25/9/9 - Well shot and acted, but messy, over-long and with problems of focus.