Creator (1985) review

Biologist/physician Dr. Harry Wolper (Peter O'Toole) is working on a secret project to bring his late wife Lucy (Karen Kopins) back to life (she passed away three decades ago) and coerces student Boris (Vincent Spano) into being his assistant - meanwhile, Wolper requires a female egg and has a chance encounter with fertile teenager Meli (Mariel Hemingway), Boris becomes enamored with fellow scientist Barbara (Virginia Madsen) and Wolper's co-worker Dr. Sid Kullenbeck (David Ogden Stiers) wants to boot him out of the university.  O'Toole, as expected, is magnetic as the ever-so-confident Nobel Laureate, but the movie is uneven and something of a slog: the subplot involving Boris' relationship with Barbara feels tacked on and only exists so her character can suddenly slip into a coma and Spano can become hysterical at her bedside.  Even the "philosophical conversations" seem to be lacking in imagination: Wolper believes in a higher power while Kullenbeck is an atheist, so when their positions are challenged at the conclusion, the final result is weak (just ... pray?).  At least O'Toole's 53-year-old "hero" "earns" a happy ending: his God-like quest ends in failure, but he does get a 19-year-old to fall in love with him.  And that, my dears, was the 80's ... where you could also light up a cigar anywhere you wanted to, since no one complained.