Movie Review: Noah

Hollywood underserves the Bible Belt in the United States. Biblical stories are filled with complicated characters and compelling plots, but due to quality producers being mostly liberal, few of these stories go into production. Hopefully Noah begins the reverse of that trend. This lengthy epic of Noah and the ark has its flaws, but it asks compelling questions about faith and interpretation. More importantly, it explains how Noah used rock monsters to defend the ark.

After a brief intro for those who are unfamiliar with the bible, we learn that Noah (Russell Crowe) is a descendant of the good bloodline of Adam. He wanders the world serving the Creator and avoiding evil men to protect his family: his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), 3 sons Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman), and Japheth (Leo Carroll), and adopted daughter Ila (Emma Watson). In a vision, Noah learns that the Creator will destroy the world with a flood. After consulting his grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), Noah decides to build an ark to save the animals and survive the cleansing of the planet. His secret is soon discovered by Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) and his warrior clan, who intend to take the ark from Noah.

Stories abound at how grossly over budget Noah is. I don’t know if it helps, but it looks as if all of the extra money can be seen on-screen. The stories of creation are majestic and simple, using CGI and quick cutting to showcase how the world came to be. The ark battle between fallen angels and humanity has a truly epic scope, drawing some comparisons to Lord of the Rings. The sets in Iceland create a sweeping view of desolation or rebirth, depending on location. Not all of the effects work (the rock angels are obviously a directorial liberty) but they service the story by broadening the scope. The special effects create global consequences if Noah does not complete his task successfully, and shine a light into Noah’s relationship with the Creator.

Noah’s running time is well over 2 hours. After the battle for the ark (the movie’s high point), there is another hour of material that moves in fits and starts. Compelling questions drive the story forward. Noah’s faith serves him well in the first half, correctly interpreting what the Creator’s plan was for him. However, he uses illogical jumps and misinterpretation as more time goes by on the ark to devolve the Creator’s plan into something more sinister. Noah’s unwavering faith in the Creator, which was his greatest asset, was slowly turned into his worst enemy, a fear I think most people have when fully committing to something. Choice is also very important: when AND how Noah chooses to act are better examples of faith than just blind servitude. The decision-making logic and pointless subplots threaten to derail Noah’s second half, but when focused on the family conflicts and Noah’s internal conflict, the movie drives forward with dread and intrigue.

The actors deserve a lot of credit for Noah’s success. This is the best performance Russell Crowe has given in some time. Crowe sells the extremes of Noah’s faith in the Creator through fierce determination and near madness with a constant undercurrent of love and caring. Noah would go adrift without Crowe anchoring the film. Jennifer Connelly is happy to be working with Darren Aronofsky again; she gets a couple great moments as Noah’s wife, showing her unflappable devotion to the happiness of her kids. Emma Watson also gets a scene or two, but she mostly has to appear sad or scared. Of Noah’s kids, only Logan Lerman gets some dimensionality, and he does surprisingly well with it, capturing Ham’s covetousness, jealousy, and love of his father. Ray Winstone finds a great angle for the deliciously evil Tubal-cain. Driven not by soullessness but by being unfairly forsaken by the Creator, Winston’s menace runs deep but also attracts pity from the audience.

Biblical believers are worried about liberties being taken with their faith and story in Noah. Some will see the CGI liberties with the story as blasphemous use of sacred text (already happening because the word God does not appear in the movie). On the other hand, Noah, like Abraham or Jesus, was forced to confront his own faith and belief system at some point in his lifetime. I suggest going into Noah with an open mind, and perhaps this movie experience will help confront your own doubts and reaffirm what you truly believe.

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