Susan Granger’s review of “Children of Men” (Universal)
A whopper of a heart-kicker, “Children of Men” is a full-throttle futuristic thriller with a flat-out fabulous performance by Clive Owen as a British civil servant in a bleak, despairing, depressing world that’s been thrown into chaos and anarchy.
It’s an Orwellian 2027 – and female infertility plagues the globe. No babies have been born, anywhere, for 18 years.
Former political activist-turned-bureaucrat, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is reluctantly drawn in to a resistance movement when he’s kidnapped by a rogue terrorist group called the Fish that’s headed by his militant ex (Julianne Moore) who convinces him to obtain transit papers for a young refugee, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), who must flee the country.
When plans go awry in London, Theo drives the girl to the secret country hideaway of his eccentric, drug-addled friend Jasper (Michael Caine), a former political cartoonist – but their pursuers are close behind. It’s all about the desperate chase to save humanity – because, inexplicably, Kee is pregnant!
Based on a 1993 novel by British mystery writer P.D. James and adapted by writer/director Alfonso Cuaron with Timothy J. Sexton, it’s rife with thought-provoking social and political themes, revolving around immigration and terrorism – and far more believable than “28 Days” or “V for Vendetta.” Also credit photographer Emmanuel Lubezski and production designers Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland – who create indelible images of wailing prisoners held in Guantanamo-like cages in an oppressive, rubble-littered landscape. And Cuaron’s seamless editing is truly remarkable.
But it’s also rather confusing, filled with heavy-handed religious allusions and allegorical symbolism – and too little is explained about Theo and Kee’s ultimate goal, known only as The Human Project. Nevertheless, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Children of Men” is a gritty, gripping 8. It’s apocalyptic sci-fi.
