Not-So-Little Children

Children of Men presents a really unsettling picture of the world, circa 2027: all women have been infertile for 18 years, there is widespread poverty, no clear leadership, and bands of rebels use militaristic efforts to forward their goals. It's not a pretty picture. So when a miracle pregnancy is discovered, extreme measures are needed to keep the secret and not interfere with the birth. Enter Clive Owen's character, Theo Faron, who is grappling with his own inner demons (his child died years earlier), and who is charged with protecting the mother. That's about all I understood about the movie. There's a bit more to it, and much of that went over my head. I was unclear about what the Fish were doing, why Julianne Moore was only on for about 15 minutes, what Michael Caine had to do with any of it, and how this movie, which is actually quite good despite my not following it entirely, could resort to things like a character (the mother) whose name is Kee and a ship named Tomorrow. They're not exactly subtle symbols. But anyway, I didn't want to see Children of Men when it first came out, but the good reviews changed my mind. And now that I've seen it, I can't say I entirely agree, but I do still think this is a very good movie — largely because I was impressed by the vision of writer/director Alfonso Cuaron, and because I thought Clive Owen made an engaging hero. So I'm giving Children of Men a B+.