Children of Men

Director: Alfonso CuarĂ³n
Year Released: 2006
Rating: 1.5

In the not-too-distant future, humanity is sterile - don't ask why or how, those things are irrelevant - so the unlikely discovery of a pregnant young woman by depressed everyman Clive Owen forces him to try to get her shelter via boat - don't ask where she's going or what they're going to do with her (clone her, maybe?), those things are irrelevant, too. The visuals and technique are passionate and involved (the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is astounding) but the script is vague and simplistic and borderline moronic, sidestepping serious matters in favor of you-are-there realism. The baddies all seem to have Super Tracking systems to appear anywhere they want at all times; the moralistic tone about the importance of family and Christianity is overbearing. As someone who has to regularly contend with the children of men, seeing their absence is something of a dream come true.