Creation (out 18 January 10, Cert. PG)

Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Jeremy Northam, Martha West, dir. Jon Amiel, 2009, cert. PG

Real-life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly play Charles Darwin and his wife Emma. Creation tells the story of how the eminent scientist came to publish his life works, On The Origin of The Species, after years of torment, grief over the death of his daughter and soul-searching. The man has a brilliant mind but highly perturbed conscience, not wanting to hurt the feelings of his beloved, religious wife yet unable to bury his head in the sand to avoid controversy.

Creation boasts great performances, stunning photography and a beautiful soundtrack but this is no bucolic ode to the great man. Bettany's Darwin is ravaged by grief over the death of daughter Annie, who had a major influence on his decision to finish the book and appears to him in haunting hallucinations throughout the film. This would be fine but for a confusing use of flashbacks between memories of Annie alive and the hallucinations. Indeed this is quite distracting, and takes away from a rather interesting insight into how Darwin came to publish his revolutionary theory. Creation offers an interesting look at how the great naturalist Charles Darwin overcame his doubts and published On The Origin Of The Species.