JeremyNortham Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Acting couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly must have decided that life would be too calm after November 2008 -- so they have signed to play Charles and Emma Darwin in Creation. Yes, the Darwins. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be directed by Jon Amiel, from a script penned by John Collee, and based on Randal Keynes' book Annie's Box. (Keynes is Darwin's great-great grandson.) The film will portray Charles Darwin as a man torn between his love for his deeply religious wife, and his growing belief in a world where God has no place.

I hope that they explore Darwin's personal struggles and belief more deeply than the plot description suggests. To sell him as an athiest smacks of wanting to stir up controversy -- Darwin always called himself an agonostic, and his rejection of Christianity stemmed as much from the tragic death of his daughter, Annie, as his research. It's a complex and fascinating biography, one that, as a lover of science and the history of it, I would love to see done with real justice.

The cast is certainly more than capable -- Bettany and Connelly are both wonderful, and they'll be joined by Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Annie Darwin has yet to be cast. (I can't help but be amused by the fact that Bettany and Northam have played Darwin-inspired characters before, in Master and Commander and Possession, respectively. Pet interest, perhaps?)

I know the merest mention of Charles Darwin is enough to cause an epic flame war in the comments. If it's possible, try to keep discussion only to the film, the actors, the book, and Darwin's biography. That may be too much to hope for, but I beg you to remain respectful and tolerant of one another.

I've got yet more proof that Peter O'Toole has been replaced by a robot. The man is in his mid-70s, and after steadily doing a few projects here and there for years, he's taking on a cajillion, million roles. I seriously don't know where he's finding the energy, but now he's added another film to the roster, and possibly another chance at that little, elusive statue. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that O'Toole will join his Tudors co-stars Jeremy Northam and Sam Neill, along with Australia's Bryan Brown, in a new film called Dean Spanley. It's almost like someone was watching that show and figured they'd just cast from there, rather than go through the effort of a long search.

The feature is going to be the sophomore effort of Toa Fraser, who got the World Cinema Audience Prize at Sundance for his first film, No.2. Written by Rob Roy scribe Alan Sharp, THR describes it as a film: "Set in Edwardian England, where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Spanley reveals just how deep an Englishman's love for his dog can go." Yeah, so the beginning sounds so very O'Toole, but I'm not sure what's up with the whole dog twist. There's nothing quite like a good tale of animosity between the Colonies and Mamma England, mixed in with canine love. The film will slip into shooting next month.