CHILDREN OF MEN

Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Universal Pictures
Grade: C
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Written By: Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, from P.D.
James novel "The Children of Men"
Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel
Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris,
Danny Huston, Peter Mullan, Dana Pellea, Paul Sharma, Jacek
Koman
Screened at: Universal, NYC, 11/7/06
Opens: December 25, 2006

If this is what London will look like in November 2027, there's
one good thing to be said. The city will no longer be one of the
two most expensive (along with Tokyo) for tourists. For an
atmosphere of sheer dystopia, nothing this year beats what
director Alfonso Cuaron has dug up to portray a society gone
wild with illegal immigrants abounding, terrorists shouting "Allah
akhbar" while shooting their rifles into the air, fascist police
shooting at everything that moves. Most of all, those of us who
think that London is an often bleak place, rainy, cloudy, foggy,
today's city looks like Tahiti compared to the way it looks in this
movie through Emmanuel Lubezki's hand-held lens. The only
sunlight that peeks through is metaphoric: it is created by some
of the few decent characters in the story, though Julianne
Moore's character, sad to say, is not with us for long.

The movie is adapted by the director and Timothy J. Sexton
from P.D. James's book "The Children of Men," not the author's
typical murder mystery but a sci-fi adventure that reminds one of
"1984" and "Brave New World." Action scenes share the screen
with snippets of not especially witty dialogue.

In general, the movie is a mess, its principal character and his
relationship with a beautiful woman as icy cold as the city itself,
with appeal only for battle scenes--particularly some intermittent
bombs bursting in air that put the viewer right up there on the
front lines.

P.D. James, however, in setting aside her signature murder-
mystery theme in favor of science fiction, is worthy of our
attention from her descriptive prose, to wit: "Early this morning,
1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human
being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb
of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve
days." (The year is changed to 2027 and the last human being is
just eighteen.) James's themes come across in the film, but
what gives the project a messy, all-over-the-place look is the
merging of two, maybe more themes. One is infertility. The
movie does not explain why not a single child has been born in
eighteen years. P.D. James accommodates: Contrary to what
one major critic states about "female infertility," it's the guys'
fault. Low sperm count. Another theme is an illegal rush by
immigrants across the border to England, seeking escape from
lands far more troubled than the scepter'd isle–though you'd
have to wonder what's going on in Eastern Europe when
London is so hellish. The cops are treating the immigrants like
the garbage that's overflowing in the streets, putting them in
makeshift cages. Still another activity involves terrorists,
dissidents, or those who do not like Britain's fascist government.
They set off bombs. They're shot at.

From out of the jumble of explosions, rat-tat-tat of machine guns
and the like, a former activist now settled into a dull government
job, Theo Faron (Owen), visits his long-time friend Jasper
(Michael Caine). Jasper is an unreconstructed hippie, who
grows pop in his yard and spots a head of hair that might be
have the approval of "Fur"'s character Lionel Sweeney and, if
you did not hear his voice, you'd not recognize the great actor.
Kidnapped by Fishes, a terrorist gang favoring equality for
immigrants, Thom meets up with his old activist pal Julian
Taylor (Julianne Moore), who asks Theo to dig up papers for
one illegal refugee, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). The aim is to get
Kee, who is the only pregnant woman in the world
(impregnated, she states, by some "wanker," (who presumably
took a break from wanking) to a group of scientists dedicated to
finding a cure for all this infertility.

Having seen incredible battle scenes in pictures like "Lord of the
Rings," "Saving Private Ryan," and "Flags of Our Fathers," you'd
not be censured for yawning through the battle scenes,
wondering why Julianne Moore leaves us so quickly, figuring out
what Danny Huston is doing in this movie. Or maybe just
wondering what's in blazes is going on.

Rated R. 108 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online