The Genesis Code (2010)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Ever since the Scopes Monkey Trial (a half-dozen generations ago) the onset of postmodern intellectual elitism has steadily moved to progressively denigrate and marginalize Christianity within the public square. In education, entertainment, news media, and courts the God of the Bible is routinely ignored, mocked, ridiculed, or worse by postmodern intellectual elites. Like it or not, contemporary America is a nation where Christianity is under open assault on many fronts.The Genesis Code rebukes that assault on three current social and cultural issues: religion vs. science, end-of-life decisions, and religious discrimination on college campuses. In each, the movie supports conservative views without actually taking a position. The intent is to open the door to a side of the discussion that hasn't had much constructive public play lately.The religion vs. science argument receives the least direct treatment in the movie, but is the major promotional selling point. At issue is whether physical cosmology (accepting the Big Bang Theory and holding that the universe is approximately 15,750,000,000 years old), or the Ussher Chronology (based on the Bible and holding that creation's first day was Sunday, 23 October, 4004 BC) is the correct answer. Kerry Wells' stand, revealed early in the story, is that creationism is right, and science will eventually catch up with Biblical truth.Kerry's brother Mark and his colleagues, Lin Chen and J. T. Bochner, use the phenomena of time dilation and cosmic microwave background radiation in tandem to explain how two very different conclusions for how old the earth is can be harmoniously reconciled. The explanation is brilliant (aided by amazing graphic effects) without getting the viewer lost in math and physics. The result is a plausible and understandable explanation for how both 6 days and 15.75 billion years can be correct simultaneously, and establishes that God has the right answers even when man's limited understanding cannot grasp them.Right-to-Life is about more than opposing abortion on demand; it's about building a culture of life in America. It's about restoring the foundational belief that a human life, regardless of quality, has an inherently sacred and superior value assigned by God that attaches at conception and remains so until natural death. That, not surprisingly, is why the Founding Fathers identified life as first among the chief unalienable rights that every person is endowed with by their Creator.On the other hand, evolutionary biology (based on Darwin's Origin of Species) by its very nature completely disregards the inherent value of human life in and of itself, choosing instead to superimpose a relative value assigned by those who are seen as being somehow superior to the masses. It is this very abrogation that has spawned abortion on demand, sexual licensure, slavery in every form, and essentially the entire eugenics agenda. The arguments supporting and advancing these positions conveniently ignore Charles Darwin's own admission that his defining literary work was effectively all theory and little evidence.But what of people who lie in hospital beds, comatose, unable to communicate their intentions or wishes? At what point, if at all, does life support become an exercise in futility, denying The Creator the right to call a person home any time he sees fit to do so? End of life issues are inherently tricky. Advance Medical Directives are helpful, but do little to stanch the emotional turmoil of the people who must execute those directives.Carl and Ellen Taylor, Blake Truman's grandparents, are in the unenviable position of having to carry out a directive sworn out by their daughter, Beverly, before the cancer ravaging her body reduced her to a comatose state. Blake fights the directive, but Judge Hardin ultimately rules against the motion for injunction; the scene in the court's conference room closes with Blake and his grandparents debating the merit of an appeal.As the plot unfolds, we learn there's a reason that Blake doesn't have much confidence in the power of prayer. Kerry's persistent displays of faith eventually make their point, however, and Blake's appeal is ultimately filed (just not in a courtroom).With regard to religious discrimination, I find it more than ironic that the same postmodern intellectual elites who preach tolerance and understanding take the exact opposite approach when it comes to Christianity. Religious discrimination can take on many forms, but peer pressure from Blake's teammates and academic ridicule from Professor Campbell pales compared to the thinly veiled mockery and contempt leveled by Myra Allitt, Kerry's academic adviser.Tyler Ross, Shane Thomas, and Chase Laughton are gradually worn down by Kerry simply and openly living the combined advice of Matthew 5:13-16 and 1 Peter 3:14-16; their mea culpa is a beautiful rendering of "A Soldier's King" by Shane. The song briefly and subtly touches on the two things that make Christianity the most reviled religion humanity has ever known or will ever know.As for Professor Campbell, a conversation at a shooting range between him, Blake, and Rev. Jerry Wells show us that things are not always as they seem. The discussion hinges on comparison and contrast between microevolution and macroevolution relative to speciation.Myra Allitt, however, is a horse of an entirely different color. Her meeting with Kerry starts out with praise, but rapidly goes downhill from there. Myra mentions that she has some reservations in recommending Kerry for grad school, and then proceeds to systematically ridicule Kerry's faith in detail, treating it as an insult to postmodern intellectualism (her concluding argument is a misuse of 1 Corinthians 13:11). Without giving anything away, let's just say that a follow up meeting goes considerably differently.As my final thought, The Genesis Code is a very worthwhile movie that effectively supports conservative viewpoints and values. It's billed as "the Christian movie of the year," and may well deserve that honor. I highly recommend that you take the time to catch The Genesis Code while it's in theaters.

"If God didn't want us to think, He wouldn't have given us deductive reasoning." The one thing that this film does accomplish that no one can argue is that it makes the viewer think. Personally, I believe the movie is crafted in an extremely intelligent and engaging manner. It's a fine character piece almost interrupted by a scientific/theological presentation. You truly come to care for the characters. Then, everything leading to the debate is put forth in as clear a manner as possible. Unfortunately, the subject itself is not very easy to understand. So, I can see the average viewer tuning out or even their eyes glazing over by the presentation despite the best efforts of film makers to make it relatable and interesting. One really needs to pay attention to follow and if you're going to present this information, you might as well make it complete and near incontrovertible. I applaud the effort if not the actually execution. On a side note, one of my favorite parts of the film was the scenes with the academic adviser. It perfectly illustrates narrow-minded thinking and the often times liberal yet ignorant indoctrination present in too many institutions of "higher" learning. Wonderful presentation and writing in those scenes.I'm Christian and I'm glad they included all points of view and rationally show positions some individuals do take. This is no "pie in the sky" movie. They legitimately discuss and reflect dissenting views and those that question the complete accuracy of the Bible. Going in to this film, I guess I would've put myself in the place of the lead character. Believing most information but having serious doubts about the factual validity of the book of Genesis. This film mostly changed that perception. One way or the other, it never was really crucial in my relationship with God but it's good to explore all aspects of Divinity and theology.Paraphrasing another quote I remember from this film, "Those people that question how a person arrives at their personal relationship with God is either arrogant, (ignorant) or blasphemous." If this film adds anything to a person's belief system then more power to them. Why do non-believers and haters have a problem with that and when other people find peace? Could it be that something is lacking in their own life?

I just saw The Genesis Code this afternoon after a friend told me about it and it's one of my favorite movies of the past year. Anyone knows going in this is not purely for entertainment: the movie has a message that tackles some very difficult life decisions many of us suddenly have to face, and also takes on some very loaded religious/philosophical questions about where we come from.When a movie has a message and tackles big subjects instead of claiming to be pure entertainment, of course it takes a big risk because there are bound to be people who strongly disagree with that message. A recent Gallup poll on God and evolution gave three choices and found 39% of Americans believe humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life but God guided the process, 40% believe God created human beings pretty much in their present form in the past 10,000 years or so, and 16% believe humans evolved over millions of years and God played no part. Needless to say, an overwhelming majority of the really negative reviews here come either from the 16% who believe God played no part, or else a handful of negative reviews from people who hate the movie because they take the position no "real" Christian could possibly believe that humans evolved over millions of years. The no-God and no-scientific evidence negative reviewers actually have a lot in common - both take a no-compromise position and pretend they can speak for all Christians and all Americans, when they don't. Thankfully we have The Genesis Code which is a movie for the rest of us who don't outright reject the Bible and don't outright reject scientific evidence either.When I take a look at what's available to rent on red box it seems a third of the movies portray a world that offers convenient excuses to shoot at other people. An anthropologist from Mars who studied the U.S. based on our movies would think we get shot at every day on our way to work or checking out at the grocery store, but that cancer was extremely rare and unusual. Do any of these negative reviewers offer similarly scathing reviews of all these other movies for being superficial? Stacks of movies that cheapen human life aren't criticized - the stock answer is hey, if you don't want to watch violence don't rent them. But if someone comes out with just one new and refreshing movie that examines the inescapable pain and hard decisions that can be part of watching a loved one die, or the pressures to compromise your beliefs and ideals and values to advance your career, then people come out firing away with guns blazing. How sad.Well, my answer to the negative reviewers of The Genesis Code is the same answer others offer for the stacks of movies with nothing but cheap violence. Hey, if you don't want to see a movie with Christian viewpoints on life's tragedies and a thought-provoking exploration of how much science and faith both agree on our origins, there's a simple answer: don't watch it! !

If you get your science updates from the back of a cereal box, and your ability to discern truth from a Magic 8 Ball, then this movie is for you. Tokenism is running amok as the yarn is presented with the point of view of only the white Christian perspective and those from another cultural background are as flat and two dimensional as the plot and it's unfounded but humorous scientific 'melding". This film will appeal to those who want to believe that they are seeing beyond the Biblical errors, but a true deep thinker will only shake their head and ask for their money back from the theater. If C. Thomas Howell had changed a few lines and scenes, the film would have come across as a parody instead of simply a silly adventure to explain what does not exist. Creationism is not based on science, and well funded propaganda like this to justify the notations of 2000 year old nomads, to fit modern science theory and fact is a wasted effort.