Noah - 3 smiles

If you can suspend your disbelief and go with Darren Aronofsky’s vision for “Noah,” you’ll find a compelling drama. Clearly, a story based on the Bible is going to need some gaps filled and don’t hold Aronofsky to a literal translation. Genesis mentions Noah’s sons but not his wife. We know that God had to flood the earth to punish humanity’s wickedness, but how does Noah deal with the guilt of killing so many people? Aronofsky is good at capturing the essential human conflict between good and evil and Russell Crowe’s Noah makes a decision that turns him into the villain for a good portion of the film. (Especially that moment with a knife and a baby.)

The story begins ten generations after Adam and Eve’s exile. In this movie, God is always referred to as ‘The Creator’ (or ‘He’), and his chief motivation seems to be to get humans to appreciate what he has made for them. Stone giants, that give a section of the movie a Lord of the Rings feel, are called Watchers. They protect Noah and his family from the marauding hordes f the evil Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone). It seems that Aronofsky links the Watchers to the Nephilim and that they are beings made of light that God created to protect humanity from sin. When they failed God punished them by turning them into stone Giants. The production, which took place in regions of Iceland, features as ark that was built to Biblical specifications. While the script allows Crowe some range – bravery, intensity, remorse, redemption – the same can’t be said for the rest of the impressive cast. Jennifer Connelly as Noah’s wife gets little more to do here than be the supportive wife. The sons are essentially interchangeable. But Anthony Hopkins as Noah’s grandfather Methuselah provides a few rare moments of levity. “Noah” is a moving story with a message abut the fine line between mercy and justice. 3/28/14