The Telegraph has a story today about a floundering British film called Creation, which opened the Toronto Film Festival to fanfare, premieres in Britain this Sunday, and has been picked up by distributors in every area imaginable, "from Australia to Scandinavia." The movie homes in on the life of Charles Darwin at its most conflicted, when the 40-something scientist (Paul Bettany) mourns the loss of his young daughter and finds himself disenchanted with religion.
But the biopic hasn't found a U.S. distributor yet─something The Telegraph and The Hollywood Reporter both hitch to America's conservatism. The former points out that "only 39 percent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution," while THR mourns that "[it] would be a great shame if those with religious convictions spurned the film out of hand as they will find it even-handed and wise."
It's easy to blame ol' puritanical America, the land in which The Passion of the Christ is still the top-performing R-rated movie of all time. But we're gambling that Creation is a casualty of the economy more than the stateside moral temperature. Variety assessed the film as a "handsome historical piece" likely to nab "respectable critical support," but predicted it would top out as a "medium specialty performer." In today's market, a sales pitch guaranteeing "medium specialty business" will fall on deaf ears. The mandate of Summer 2009: Biggest Box Office Ever was fast and clear: sequels are in, subtlety is out. Even the eminently bankable Adam Sandler couldn't sell a nuanced dramedy about death and despair. If he can't, a balding Bettany in breeches almost certainly can't.
Not that the economy is an excuse. It's our humble opinion that being too cheap is far more damning than being too devout.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
