Noah (FILM REVIEW)
Noah
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Crowe Portrays Biblical Patriarch in Novel Adaptation of Popular Parable
Anybody with even a rudimentary knowledge
of the Bible is undoubtedly familiar with the story of Noah and the Ark. That scriptural
passage, found in Genesis, revolves around a righteous patriarch recruited by God
to build a big boat before the arrival of a flood being meted out as divine punishment
for man’s many wicked ways.
Heeding the word of the Lord, he
proceeded to construct the mammoth vessel before herding two of each species of
animal into the hold. It subsequently rained for 40 days and 40 nights, with
water covering the entire Earth’s surface, thereby drowning all of humanity
except for his family.
So, until now, the tale of Noah was
basically a simple one about God’s decision to completely wipe the planet of
sinners and start over. Leave it to Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky
(for Black Swan) to come up with a novel and intriguing reinterpretation of the
popular parable recasting Noah as a complicated soul wrestling with inner demons
during his quest to do the Lord’s bidding ahead of the impending deluge. The movie also has an ecological angle, plus
some computer-generated monsters ostensibly designed to holds the kids’
interest.
The film stars Academy Award-winner Russell
Crowe (for Gladiator) in the title role, and features a talented supporting
cast which includes fellow Oscar-winners Jennifer Connelly (for A Beautiful
Mind) and Anthony Hopkins (for The Silence of the Lambs), three-time nominee
Nick Nolte (for Warrior, Affliction and The Prince of Tides), as well as Emma
Watson and Ray Winstone.
The picture opens with what is
essentially a Sunday school lesson, a refresher course about the creation of Adam
(Adam Griffith) and Eve (Ariane Rinehart) who begat three sons: Cain, Abel and
Seth. The evil one, Cain, slew his sibling Abel, and those descending from Cain’s
demon seed continued to do the devil’s work by generally exploiting the
planet’s natural resources.
Noah, by contrast, as a son of Seth,
learned how to live in harmony with nature. He and his wife (Connelly) raised
their sons, Shem (Douglas Booth), Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll) and Ham (Logan
Lerman), with the same eco-friendly philosophy.
Eventually, of course, Noah gets his
marching orders from God, and the plot thickens when the steady drizzle
develops into a neverending downpour. Suddenly, his nosy neighbors no longer
see constructing an ark as such a nutty idea anymore, and it’s going to take a
miracle like an army of animatronic angels to keep the desperate hordes from
climbing aboard.
Meanwhile, a visibly-anguished Noah agonizes
over what’s about to transpire, and consults his sage, berry-imbibing grandfather,
Methuselah (Hopkins). But anticipatory survivor’s guilt ain’t about to alter
God’s plan one iota.
An alternately introspective and breathtaking Biblical epic, every bit
cerebral as it is panoramic!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive content and disturbing
images
Running time: 138 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
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