2008 Woodie Awards
'Children of Men' beautiful, exciting
Sam Ewing
Issue date: 1/29/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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PROS
Beautifully shot
Exciting
Interesting premise
CONS
Weak back story
Under-developed supporting character
Important plot elements briefly covered
It's 2027 and humans have become infertile. Why, who knows? Maybe it was pollution, or gamma rays, or a complete lack of desire, or even storks going extinct. Whatever the reason, the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. One of the fallout effects of this has been that the youngest man alive who is now 18 has become a huge celebrity and despite being a legal adult is referred to universally as 'baby' Diego.
His life is cut short due to a mishap with a disgruntled fan. During a news cast on the murder in the opening sequence of Children of Men, a building is destroyed by a terrorist's explosive. The terrorist bombing isn't an isolated incident; it's one of a number of bombings that have been taking place due to increased friction between immigrant's rights groups and the British government.
The British government has adopted a policy for hunting down illegal immigrants so aggressive that it probably would even scare the bejesus out of Rush Limbaugh. On every street corner, there are infomercials that seems to be simultaneously humanizing and denouncing illegal immigrants who are thrown into cages and hauled off to mass jails reminiscent of World War II concentration camps.
Into this environment comes a woman eight months pregnant named Kee who happens to be an illegal immigrant. Her baby is described as "the miracle the whole world has been waiting for." She can't bring it public, though, for fear of what dealing with the government might mean, and dealing with immigrants rights organizations proves to be just as risky.
Oxford professor and former political activist, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is given the job of helping Kee, the expectant mother, to safety. Like the world around him his life is a mess. He leans on his lively friend, Jasper (Michael Caine), for support and is still in love with his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore). He doesn't want to help Kee, but situations force him to do so.
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