Best I've seen in a long time

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2007)

Children of Men was not an uplifting story, although you do leave it with the return of a feeling of hope. Cuaron's brilliantly shot, thought provoking film is one of dull heartbreak, the way it really is, instead of the flash of agony so common in film these days.
His vision of a world without children, and, by proxy, a world without hope, is both terrifying and numbing, and his character-level shooting during much of the violence in the film really puts you there.
Clive Owen, who is quickly moving up my scale of favorite actors, is perfect as a man who, drowning in pain from his own lost child and a healthy dose of scotch whisky, finds his redemption by being able to care again when he comes back into contact with his ex-lover Julianne Moore, and then later by carrying the mantle of protecting Kee and her unborn child.
There was so much feeling in so many scenes, subtle feeling, not the usual over-acted kind that so many people expect and respond to. In real life, tenderness is exhibited by small actions, a look, a game with ping pong balls, the tenderness of a man saying goodbye to his disabled wife.
It is to Cuaron's credit also how he conveyed the sheer majesty of childbirth in a world where there are no babies, and the utter shock and reverence that would surround such an event.
This is easily one of the best films I've seen in the past two to three years, and as such I highly recommend it. Now I just need to catch Pan's Labyrinth.