Finding Altamira

Finding Altamira is let down by ordinary acting, way too many scholarly adages and a perplexing level of inaction.

Director Hugh Hudson maintains a steady hand throughout in this low-key but powerful rumination on faith and reason.

Antonio Banderas' admirable performance fails to energize Hugh Hudson's handsome but ponderous period drama.

A rote but engaging historical drama about the eternal debate between truth and mythology.

Some striking shots cannot make up for static storytelling and a clunky script.

In Antonio Banderas, Mr. Hudson has a winning de Sautuola of personal modesty, scientific integrity and paternal warmth.

Feels like the kind of movie your science teacher ran in class when they didn't feel like lecturing.

A reasonably engaging tale of the ever present arguments that take place between science and belief.

Director Hugh Hudson shoots in lush settings and provides ample footage of the incredible paintings; this could make a nice double feature alongside Werner Herzog's documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

... too often detours into silly subplots that minimize the moral complexity and trivialize the fascinating true-life source material.