Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)

Buy This Item Children of Men (Widescreen Edition) by Universal Studios  Available from Amazon  $9.99  on 11-14-2008     Presenting a bleak, harrowing, and yet ultimately hopeful vision of humankind's not-too-distant future, <i>Children of Men</i> is a riveting cautionary tale of potential things to come. Set in the crisis-ravaged future of 2027, and based on the atypical 1993 novel by British mystery writer P.D. James, the anxiety-inducing, action-packed story is set in a dystopian England where humanity has become infertile (the last baby was born in 2009), immigration is a crime, refugees (or "fugees") are caged like animals, and the world has been torn apart by nuclear fallout, rampant terrorism, and political rebellion. In this seemingly hopeless landscape of hardscrabble survival, a jaded bureaucrat named Theo (Clive Owen) is drawn into a desperate struggle to deliver Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), the world's only pregnant woman, to a secret group called the Human Project that hopes to discover a cure for global infertility. As they carefully navigate between the battling forces of military police and a pro-immigration insurgency, Theo, Kee, and their secretive allies endure a death-defying ordeal of urban warfare, and director Alfonso Cuaron (with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) capture the action with you-are-there intensity. There's just enough humor to balance the film's darker content (much of it coming from Michael Caine, as Theo's aging hippie cohort), and although <i>Children of Men</i> glosses over many of the specifics about its sociopolitical worst-case scenario (which includes Julianne Moore in a brief but pivotal role), it's still an immensely satisfying, pulse-pounding vision of a future that represents a frightening extrapolation of early 21st-century history. <i>--Jeff Shannon</i> Reader Reviews I wish I'd seen this at the movies, but the trailer made it seem so much like the usual pedestrian sci-fi nonsense that I blew it off. Thank you very much Universal Publicity -- not. Fortunately a friend forced the DVD on me. I won't argue over the plot complexities -- there really aren't any: in a world that is rapidly winding down Clive Owen suddenly finds himself custodian to the first pregnant woman in eighteen years. It's a chase movie, and in the hands of a less creative director this film would've given up in the first twenty minutes -- let's face it, the synopsis doesn't offer much hope for anything more than another "Equilibrium" style sci-fi action-fest. But Cuaron manages to keep the story moving through what could esily be a series of predictable sequences with some spectacularly original camera work and beautifully understated performances. He emphasises character and texture, and the hard work pays off. Children Of Men is an excellent example of what a great director can do with some ordinary material. Cuaron's dystopia is Bosnian: grey skies, crumbling infrastructure, and ethnic cleansing. His long meandering camera moves are more like "The Red and The White" than anything SF cinema has produced; there are no sweeping establishing shots or dramatic futuristic vistas -- the camera literally walks through the carnage. And while all the actors are good (usually great), the relationship between Julianne Moore and Clive Owen is just wonderful. I won't argue about the originality of the story, but the treatment was so beautifully realised that I fell for this one in the first ten minutes. The SF might have some shortcomings, but the emotional honesty -- and complete lack of sentimentality -- more than make up for it.

Children of Men (Widescreen Edition) Available from Amazon Price: $9.99 Updated on 11-14-2008.

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