Children of Men (2006)

Although movie reviews are a fine and easy topic for a blog entry, they will be problematic for me. One of my big pet peeves is that movies are overhyped and overpreviewed to the point that it's difficult to objectively appreciate them.

It's bad enough that dramatic themes are inevitably recycled time and again so we feel like we're watching the same movies over and over. Once you add in the marketing machines and the increasingly expansive and elaborate movie trailers, we literally HAVE watched the same movie by the time we sit down for a full length feature.

So I pledge to give away nothing. In fact, even a numeric or star-based rating combined with your knowledge of my tastes and sensibilities (or lack thereof) would give away too much. My reviews will be limited to the title and year of release.

Pardon the hyperbole; as usual, I'm half-kidding. But I AM sensitive to spoilers, etc... So I want to give fair warning; proceed with caution.

Children of Men is loosely based on the novel of the same name by acclaimed English crime author PD James. In the opening scenes, we learn that the human race has lost its ability to procreate. The youngest inhabitants of earth are 18 years old and, globally speaking, things are just generally going to heck in a handbasket.

Our protagonist Theo, played admirably by Clive Owen, is a beaten and hollow civil servant. One day, he is approached by a mysterious underground group with a proposition. Events proceed.


The movie is good. England of the near future seems spooky and scary, but familar enough to be believeable. Michael Caine, in the part of an aging hippie, makes a delightful and unexpected appearence.

However, the movie, as a whole, manages to be overshadowed in my memory by a single scene. I'm not sure if that's more an indictment of the movie or an honorific for the scene. Certainly I want to honor the scene. Recall the famous quote by Faith Whittlesey:

Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.

This can be applied equally to camerman George Richmond who did everything that Clive Owen did, but backwards while filming during an ASTONISHING single-take sequence in the midst of a battle. The scene streches for over 6 no-cut minutes and captures moments of violence, humor, terror, whimsy, dread, heroism, cruelty, and hope. It must be seen to be appreciated.

Indeed, I heard a radio piece with director Alfonso Cuarón that focuses on this single scene.

********** SPOILER ALERT **********

In order to make a joke, I'm now going to give away a "secret" from the movie that would likely be given away in any other synopsis, review, or preview.

Someone gets pregnant. This is shocking since nobody in the movie has given birth for the past 18 years and provides an impressive frame to hang the plot on. What's funny is that, in the book, humans are infertile because sperm counts have dropped to zero. In the movie, the pregnant woman gets all the attention. I'm thinking, "Nevermind the woman! For the sake of the human race, find the stallion that knocked her up!"

But, to be fair, I'm mixing elements from the movie and the book (which I didn't even read). Perhaps someone who did read the book can comment.