An interesting film beautifully realised.

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2006)

I really wasn't sure what to expect going into this film. I was expecting a rather intellectual film with very little action. Well, the film delivered on the intellectual front and it also delivered on the spectacle. The action scenes were tense and emotional at times, visceral in a way that hasn't been seen since Blackhawk Down.
The film starts sedately enough in the near future, far enough for newspapers and advert signs to all be electronic, but not far enough for things to look much different. It quickly becomes obvious, through the use of TV news reals, that the youngest person in the world is an 18 year old Argentinian and that no other children have been born since him. As you watch the film you get a sense that something is missing, not quite right, until you realise that there are no children in the film. That would explain why there are so many animals, from dogs to chickens to pigs etc. These are presumably there to replace the children that people long for but are unable to have.
From a rather slow start the film slowly winds up the tension and suddenly changes from a Gattica type film to something more akin to The Fugitive. The acting is first rate, with some very well known British actors and actresses putting in some terrific performances. Clive Owen plays the party superbly, with an understated style that makes his character at once more believable and more sympathetic.
In the end, the story is a rather simple one, but it is expertly directed and told with sense that it both European and Hispanic - definitely not the usual Hollywood fare. I am not surprised that many Americans did not get the film or appreciate it - no sex, one-liners or pointless violence. It is roller-coaster of a film that surprises at every turn and in the end leaves you wanting more.
My rating, 9 out of ten.