It’s November 2027 in England, and the youngest living human has just died. He was 18 years old. No woman have given birth for years. Most of the world is in chaos, and England isn’t much better: illegal immigrants are hunted down and sent to refugee camps, terrorists are setting off bombs regularly, and the government is encouraging people to consider suicide with advertisements not all that different from most of today’s drug advertisements. While the no births scenario seems far-fetched, the atmosphere seems dangerously possible if today’s War on Terror mentality was combined with some major issue like a bird flu pandemic or global warming.
This is a gorgeous movie. It should at least get an Oscar® nomination for cinematography. Clive Owen, who plays the protagonist, is very good in a non-showy way. And as I’ve said, the atmosphere has great relevance for the world today. But somehow this film just missed for me. I always felt slightly removed. I admired it, but became only mildly involved in it. Maybe I should see it again someday, because it seems like it might improve with time.
I give it 3.5 stars out of 4.
Seen 1/21/2007, after The Last King of Scotland.
Random Musings About Running, Beer Tasting, Movies, and More 
February 6, 2007 at 9:10 pm |
This was one of those extremely well-made movies that I just didn’t like. It didn’t make sense to me. Speculative stuff like this has to have some core of science/truth to make me believe it…and this seemed just like a “cover” for a political statement.
As a fellow movie lover/reviewer, I enjoy your thoughts.