gritty realism undercut by ponderous clichés and poor acting

Rating: 2/10 (17 November 2006)

i saw "children of men" after reading a few positive reviews in journals i can usually trust, but i'm afraid i was very disappointed by this movie. the only redeemable feature is the mise en scene and the staging of the action sequences, which is pretty good, but not good enough to overcome the leaden dialogue, improbable plot devices, the sentimentality and astonishingly B grade acting. julianne moore dropped in one lunchtime to get her part nailed. clive owen is asleep on his feet, and i don't wonder with some of the lines he has to deliver, including "they got me", straight from a 1950s TV western and without a touch of irony. its really very bad, and the ending is pure kitsch. i'm surprised that a film which tries so hard to achieve gritty visual realism could allow itself to descend into such banal clichés. it's like they under estimated how much it would cost to create a believable street scape and get the explosions to look good so they had to cut some corners with the writing and acting.its rare for me to feel like i've wasted my money on a movie but this time i did.