Review: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

On the DVD case of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, director Ben Stein promises a daring exposé of a conspiracy bent on suppressing scientists who disagree with evolutionary theory, and to make a case for the teaching of intelligent design in schools.

However, what Stein doesn't mention is that Expelled is pretty much the cinematic nadir of all human civilization.

This is a documentary almost entirely devoid of facts. An interminable procession of talking heads who agree with Stein makes up the bulk of the film, often intercut with McCarthy-era stock footage for clumsy irony.

Basic data, such as what evolution and intelligent design are and what the evidence supporting intelligent design is, are neglected. Stein prefers to make his point by intercutting evolutionists with Nazis.

An earnest documentary on the evolution/creation controversy would make for fascinating viewing, but this artless propaganda does not.

Expelled also fails as entertainment. Ben Stein's mumbling voice-over is utterly soporific, and the cinematography is often melodramatic and gimmicky. When biologist Richard Dawkins appears, he's lit like the Emperor Palpatine. This is good for a laugh, but otherwise it's all snores.

The lowest point of the film occurs when Stein, after insinuating that Darwin was responsible for the Holocaust, visits execution chambers at Hadamar and Dachau for a baldly exploitative display of on-camera weepiness.

At the climax, footage Ben Stein making a pro-intelligent-design speech to hired extras is intercut with Ronald Reagan speaking on the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Stein may see himself as Reagan or a right-wing Michael Moore, but "Expelled" shows him to be more like an incompetent Leni Riefenstahl.

Expelled does, however, sport a pretty decent soundtrack. The Killers are featured, along with Johnny Cash and an all-strings rendition of "All Along the Watchtower."

I'd give Expelled half a star for having a Dylan cover on the soundtrack. Even creationists should want to disown this movie.