There's good reason for locals to root for "Noah," given that director Darren Aronofsky first devised the idea of making it when he was a seventh grader at Mark Twain Intermediate School in Coney Island.
Nonetheless, it still is undeserving of a recommendation.
The trailer offers hope that "Noah" would match the power of its star and the breadth of its vision, but the whole is actually way.
Less than the sum of its parts, as stunning as some of those parts may be, it is a wonder how such a promising effort ended up playing like tedious homework.
Russell Crowe proves equal to the task of playing Noah. If his new movie proves anything, it is his determination to regain his place as one of the world's great movie stars with a presence big enough so as never to be overwhelmed by special effects and an acting talent to match this dramatic biblical story about one man chosen by God to save God's creatures.
Jennifer Connelly is believable enough as his wife. On the other hand, Emma Watson is a bit out of her depth playing his adopted daughter but the leader of the forces of evil is sufficiently evil.
Noah's Ark has been reimagined and his faults are on display as they never were in Sunday school.
The film embellishes an ancient story short on details and tries to spin it out and make it relevant for the 21st century.
But worthy as that effort may be, the result is a boring movie punctuated by a few minutes of pure excitement.
"Noah" opens Friday, March 28th.
