'Children of Men' destined to become cult classic [destined to the dustbin]

Evansville Courier & Press ^ | 1/8/2007 | Robert Denerstein

[No.6]

With "Children of Men," Alfonso Cuaron, who directed the last Harry Potter movie, has liberated himself from the demands of children's fiction, serving up a forbidding futuristic drama that offers only the faintest glimmer of hope.

[jcon40]

OK, I saw it by accident. Sorry they got my money.

While it was an incredibly well filmed movie it is probably the most illogical pile of garbage I’ve ever seen. The leaps of logic….a….. There was no logic, to stupid to waste time commenting on except I think a lot of pot was smoked in the scripting, filming and editing and then by any critics who liked it or apologized for it.

I read some reviews after seeing it and saw it explained as a movie “packed with symbolism”. Yes, it was a senseless collage’ of ridiculous symbolism.

It reminds me of the genius who can’t tie his shoes.
While the director may be a genius at cinematography he’s bankrupt after that.

It’s almost worth seeing to witness these Hollywood types trying to espouse their supposed political wisdom on the world when their ideas can’t even make sense through a 2 hour movie.

[Chickensoup]

You demand family movies and you ignore them!!!!! If I was Hollywood I would look at the bottom dollar and see only what makes a buck because the last few conservative type movies have not made anything.



This was a conservative book hijacked into a leftist movie. Not good. I went out and saw the three movies, me who never leave the nest, that were recommended as conservative:
The Nativity
Happyness
and this pile of poop. I read and loved the book. I respect all of Dame James works. This was a hijacking, not the Children of Men story.

[eleni121]

Apocalypto is not a conservative movie

---

Yes it is.

[Yardstick]

I saw it a couple days ago and liked it, but didn't love it. The lefty political overtones were too irritating -- the Homeland Security sign over the entrance to the immigrant ghetto/prison for instance -- and I thought the performances by the supporting cast were weak, especially, and unfortunately, since they were central characters, the chubby midwife lady and the pregnant girl (I forget their names). But gosh, what a beautiful portrayal of distopian raggediness. I'm a fellow fan of dark movies and this one scratches that itch brilliantly. The realism is incredible. Incredible attention to detail. Speaking of dark movies, if you liked Children of Men, you'd probably also like Pan's Labyrinth. Saw it yesterday evening. Whew, it's good stuff -- dark, poignant, realistic, and beautifully acted all around.

[Burkean]

I was disappointed too that the film did not more closely follow the book, which had themes I found to be more interesting and universal. I find it interesting that the film took the infertility problem from men to women--seems kind of misogynistic to me (in the parlance of the film's politics) but I guess that comes from the novel being written by a women and the screenplay by a man.

I found the novel's decline in violence to be far more believable than the chaotic police state in the film. I also found it odd that so many refugees were living in England but so few of them seemed to be able to communicate in English. They were jabbering away to the guards in the native languages like they expected to be understood.

I missed the more personal social explorations that the book took with women pretending dolls and dogs were the children and attempting to have the dogs baptized. It was implied in the film that dogs were filling the role of children to the refugees, but the religious aspect was not touched on.

I also did not understand the shift away from the main character being in the ivory tower of academia to one where he is a former radical who seems to have "sold out" and become an office drone.

And they totally missed James's message about the pregnancy by making an immigrant the pregnant woman and not Julian. The whole reason in the novel that Julian slipped through the fertility tests was because she was deformed and it never crossed the minds of those in charge that she or anyone else with health issues (like the father of the baby who was epileptic) ought to be tested.

They basically sold out a really good story for giving a Cindy Sheehan type message that will not be relevant in another twenty years. The novel will continue to be appreciated long after the film has been relegated to the vaults.

[word_warrior_bob]

Well filmed, horribly written, symbolism with a sledgehammer, if you think this is deep you swim in the intellectual kiddie pool.

You MUST see the documentary in the extras, (The singularly most hysterical left wing anti-capitalist, doomsday scenario, global warming hysteria lade n thing I have EVER seen. Nothing tops this documentary, NOTHING!!!)