Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Creator

     Creator?  It's a film, and an underrated one at that; the plot and characters have always reminded me of Theodore Sturgeon's best SF ("Slow Sculpture" and "When You Care, When You Love" spring to mind), though it's actually based on (Hoosier!) Jeremy Leven's first novel.  I watched it tonight -- all the way through in one sitting, for the first time -- and count the time well spent.

     Peter O'Toole stars, as a brilliant physician and biological researcher obsessed with starting a clone of his late wife, gone thirty years, opposite Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano and Virginia Madsen and a remarkable supporting cast.  The "science," such as it is, is quite muted (and rather bogus, but definitely there) and the story is something of an emotional roller-coaster.  It was marketed as a romantic comedy, which is quite an undersell; but I suppose it would have been impossible to sell as a nice example of good-hearted literary SF.

    Strong story, a few laughs, Peter OToole (another of the men I can just sit and listen to talk; and boy, can he inhabit a character!).  What's not to like?

     Warning for the action-minded: no gunfights, only a few small explosions.  Rather a lot of "mushy stuff" but it's all in service of the plot.

5 comments:

Bob said...

You'd probably enjoy the Emilio Estevez-produced film The Way, Roberta. It stars his dad Martin Sheen in a non-political role as a father who, after his son dies while on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, decides to finish the pilgrimage as a tribute. Good, intelligent, gentle movie.

og said...

Mr o'Toole is still kicking around, too- and his body of work is astounding. "Becket" and "The Lion in Winter" will always be my favorite Peter O'Toole films, but I will look for 'Creator' and watch it now that you reccomend it.

Anonymous said...

Saw Creator many years ago.
Interesting and moving.

Thanks for the memory!
:-)

gfa

Anonymous said...

Back in the early Days of social Interneting we all shared sound Clips at Yahoo Chat rooms... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088960/quotes?qt=qt0201463... is a Favorite

BobG said...

Been a long time since I saw that movie (about 1986), I found it interesting.