Connelly Evolves, Damon Gets Douchey for Toronto Fest

Tue., Jul. 14, 2009 2:54 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Creation

HanWay Films

Even more so than usual, the name of the game at the 34th Toronto Film Festival will be survival of the fittest.

Creation, starring real-life loves Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as evolution meister Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, has been tapped to open the annual ode to quirky cinema, where the goods range from anticipated new releases from Steven Soderbergh and Jane Campion to the humblest of documentaries, foreign-language offerings and low-budget indies looking to score theatrical distribution.

So, organizers did their job by choosing a thought-provoking, potentially controversial film to open the fest, right?

In theory, yes, but Creation is missing a big piece of traditional opening-night pedigree, according to some. (Hint: It's not a Canadian film.)

"By telling a story on many levels, weaving scenes from past and present, this depiction of Darwin promises to deeply move audiences by drawing them into the conflicted mind of a man who presented a concept that changed the world," Festival codirector Cameron Bailey said in defending the choice.

Good enough for us but, then again, we're from the U.S., which isn't exactly hurting for cinematic prominence.

But anyway, speaking of Soderbergh and Campion, their latest respective projects, The Informant! (with Matt Damon as a douchey corporate whistleblower) and Bright Star (about poet John Keats, featuring Abbie Cornish as his lovah), are getting Special Presentation treatment.

Among the films having their world premieres at the fest are Ricky Gervais' latest, The Invention of Lying, which we imagine the Brit will excel in; the fantastical Ondine, starring Colin Farrell as a hot fisherman who catches a mermaid; The Boys Are Back, starring Clive Owen as a hot widowed sports writer; the Walt Whitman-alluding Leaves of Grass, starring Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon and Keri Russell; and the period drama Get Low, whose formidable cast includes Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Robert Duvall.

Precious, the film that Mariah Carey is actually supposed to be good in that won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance, is also on the schedule.

More films will be added over the next month, with the final lineup due for our perusal on Aug. 20. The 34th Toronto Film Festival runs Sept. 10-19 and, as always, E! News will have plenty of foot soldiers on the ground trailing your favorite celebrities as they party, sample the swag and, perhaps, show up for a screening now and then.