The Children of Men

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

In the near future, the world has become sterile. The last child had been born eighteen years ago. The world is in a constant state of warfare, with only relative safe haven being England. It has a lot of Orwell's 1984 overtones. Instead of Big Brother, they have Homeland Security. It's the feel good hit of the year.

There was too much story for the movie. I felt I only got glimpses of a wider picture. Maybe the film needed to be three hours long or turned into a miniseries. But what there was a very intimate portrait of violence.

Anytime there was a shooting or an explosion, Clive Owen, our lead is right there in the thick of it. Coffee shops blow up behind him. Bullets whiz all around him. Maybe he didn't pay enough attention to the script to see his part. Or they couldn't afford stunt men for the nasty bits. It was quite thrilling.

And what's not to like about Michael Caine growing pot that gives you a strawberry after-taste when you cough. I liked Sid the self-referencing fascist pig of a cop.

At the end, I wanted more. I liked what I saw, but I got the feeling they were holding out on me due to time constraints.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

As I wrote previously, before the forum crashed, I liked this movie very much. It was a near future that looked very real. There was not a lot of backstory and that was fine since I have an imagination, one that doesn't see a rosey Star Trek future for mankind.

Even The Grrl watched it (though she won't watch SciFi, I did sneak this one in) and said later that it sticks with you. It does. The setting is not far-fetched at all.

Two different friends of mine saw it and one loved it for its symbolism, the other abhored it for its stilted dialog and wooden acting.

I liked it, but I would also like to see a longer "directors cut". Yes, symbolism is there if you want it, but so is a grim future that seems not far away or far-fetched.