Engaging thriller with a weak ending

Rating: 7/10 (9 January 2009)

So another movie which bothers me because of its ending. I guess the thrust was on emphasising the marginalization of minorities in Britain. I am surprised though when this movie is called the best movie of 2006. It is a good attempt but in no way is this a groundbreaking movie or anything.
The story is quite intriguing. The story is set in the future in a Britain bereft of hope. In the Britain being portrayed, immigrants are treated as dangerous criminals and pushed into camps, like refugee camps. The human race is plagued by infertility for 18 years. In the midst of all this is a woman who becomes pregnant all of a sudden. The main character is a man named Theo(Clive Owen). He meets his old girlfriend Julian(Julianne Moore) who is involved with some extremist activities. From then on, his life starts taking a turn to the worse.
The best thing about the movie is the portrayal of the main character. He isn't portrayed as a superhero or a guy who has multiple talents. He is a regular guy who is caught in the wrong place. The movie is from his perspective. So we see his despair and his confusion throughout the movie. The direction of Alfonso Cuaron is topnotch and is one of the things I loved about this movie. The dark feel to the whole movie is appropriate and the whole "filming from the main character's perspective" is effective as we get an insight into the mindset of the character at various points of the movie. The use of music is another positive aspect. There is no overdose of music and in many scenes, there is no music at all. This adds to the dark feel of the movie. The scene in the Bexhill refugee camp is especially well done. In this scene we see his confusion and terror as he wants to do his best to protect but he is caught in the crossfire. Clive Owen's performance is quite good and his character would strike a chord with the audience. Julianne Moore, unfortunately, is under utilised in this movie and we don't see much of her. Michael Caine does well in his limited role but he could have been given a larger role.
The ending is a problem for me. I am generally annoyed at these open endings utilised in movies and this was no exception. The lack of a clear ending was not the only problem. The problem is that the ending was so underwhelming and lacked the kind of passion or energy that the rest of the movie had. The political angle was, IMO, a little too much for me. Sure, it is an issue relevant for me too(as I am an Indian). But the political themes in this movie are rammed into your head without any subtlety. The heavyhanded way of presenting these political themes was definitely a negative aspect. There are not many twists in this movie as I expected(but then I am a Christopher Nolan fan). The movie is straightforward from the second half onwards and it becomes a sort of adventure thriller in the vein of Bourne identity.
My rating for this movie would be 7/10. This is because it is quite entertaining from an action thriller viewpoint. I did like Alfonso Cuaron's direction so I would most probably check his other movies.