Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageCreator (1985)
Director: Ivan Passer
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A not unlikeable dog's dinner of a campus comedy, centring on Nobel prize-winning professor O'Toole's attempts to recreate his dead darling wife in his garden shed. Despite workaday direction, a slightly forced optimism, and the centrifugal force of Jeremy Leven's untogether script (adapted from his own novel), the cheeriness and enthusiasm of the playing carries it through. The film comes on like a dumb 1970s version of a Shaw play, with O'Toole running his University Research Department like a happy Captain Shotover, appropriating funds and equipment with carefree abandon and forever inviting his assistants to search for the 'Big Picture'. Hemingway plays the 'Life Force', a free spirit with a permanent orgasm who agrees to provide an egg for O'Toole's experiment. Spano's gadget-obsessed assistant gives outline to O'Toole's paternal qualities, and David Ogden Stiers' small-minded colleague provides the foil for O'Toole's flamboyant irresistability. It's a Peter O'Toole show, and it's worth it for his craggy-stoned face alone.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Ivan Passer
Producer: Stephen J Friedman
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano, Virginia Madsen, David Ogden Stiers, John Dehner, Jeff Corey full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 107 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now