Review of Noah (2014) by Matthew A — 21 Apr 2015

Darren Aronofsky's foray into the antediluvian world is vivid and ambitious. We know very little about the days before the flood. In many ways, this allows Aronofsky to bring to life a pre-flood world that is frighteningly real in its depiction of mankind's depravity. In this sense, he is most faithful to the biblical text. During this first hour, Aronofsky's movie is a fairly compelling quasi-fantasy, myth story. In fact, Anthony Hopkins' scene-stealing performance as Methuselah contributes to the fantasy and mythical elements. He provides the story's only moments of humor.

Once inside the ark, Aronofsky's movie takes a sharp left turn toward psychological melodrama and never recovers. For whatever the reason, Aronofsky jettisons the fantasy and mythical elements in favor of pretentious symbolism and histrionics. Boy is it slow going, too. What starts out as a decent adventure / fantasy / myth, devolves into a laughably, over-the-top portrayal of madness. The first and second hours of Aronofsky's movie never connect. Instead they cancel each other out. I wonder if the second hour was closer to what Aronofsky wanted to make, but Hollywood steered him away from it as best they could. That's my gut feeling, but I could be wrong. Anyway, Noah is a frustrating movie with so much untapped potential.