Children Of Men

Rated R for: strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr., 54 min.
Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore

Rating: Three and a half stars [out of four]


The year is 2027, and there are no babies. As of 2009, for some inexplicable reason, all the women of earth are infertile. The world has been ravaged by war, and Great Britain is the only nation still in existence. The world's youngest person is eighteen years old, and the human race is doomed to extinction.

This is the world that is set up for us right from the start of the new film Children Of Men. We're not treated to flashbacks or long set-ups that take place in the past, but are instead thrown right into the middle of the action.

Clive Owen [Sin City, Closer] plays Theodore Faron, a businessman who is still scarred from the death of his young son twenty years previously. He is swept out of his normal life and into a dangerous mission when he is kidnapped by a group of rebellious radicals, including his ex-wife, Julian [Julianne Moore.]

They offer him £5,000 in exchange for his assistance in getting Kee [relative newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey] to safety. For, you see, Kee is pregnant, and quite possibly the only hope the human race has to survive.

The group believes [and probably rightfully so] that if they went public with the revelation of Kee's pregnancy that she and the baby would be killed, for various political reasons. Their only hope is to get her to the coast, where a mysterious group of scientists who are part of "The Human Project" await with open arms, hoping against hope that Kee and her baby will be the key to the cure the world has been waiting for.

Michael Caine humorously plays Jasper, an eccentric friend of Theodore's who adds bits of nice comic relief to the proceedings and helps the group along their way.

The film itself is a masterwork of beauty among chaos. Alfonso Cuarón directs wonderfully here, and does a terrific job at creating a fully believable dystopian future. The atmosphere is jarring, and the visuals are, at times, quite stunning.

There are two action sequences in the film [that I can recall] that are [or appear to be] filmed entirely in one take. It's hard not to step back from the film and really take in the spectacle, because these scenes are really amazing, and help to create an unflinching reality that never lets you forget just how dire the situation is.





Children Of Men, as do just about all dystopian films and novels, owes alot to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Indeed, it's hard to watch any dystopian film without seeing blaring similarities. Children Of Men manages to be influenced while still feeling fresh and new. Despite the similarites, it doesn't feel like a rehash of that famous novel.

Overall, Children Of Men is, at its heart, a suspense film. It doesn't shy away from social commentary, though, especially about illegal immigration. Though the plot may be a bit sparse, there is still plenty to sink your teeth into and really think about here.

After all is said and done, the film ultimately deals with hope. The hope that a world ripped to shreds, and the human race itself, can pull out of their tailspin and manage to survive. Like the best films, you really connect with the spirit of the characters and identify with their struggle, which keeps the film grounded among the somewhat outlandish premise. Children Of Men is suspenseful, uplifting, funny and throughly enjoyable. Don't miss it.