Not that good

Rating: 4/10 (4 October 2006)

First the positives. Clive Owen has established himself as a class act and continues to deliver. Michael Caine is superb as Jasper and Claire Hope is excellent as Kee. Chiwetel Ejiofor continues to give varied and excellent performances and shines as the zealot Luke. Unfortunately, Pam Ferris, as Miriam, gave an atrocious performance as though the dreadlocks were a stapled on attitude. She reminded me of Neil from the Young Ones in her comical pronouncements.
Some of the imagery and cinematography was good but was also one of the downfalls of the picture for me. The Pink Pig over Battersea may bring a smile but really was too much.
The car driving down the country road past the unrecognisable creature next to the effluent drain with a horizon of smoke belching chimneys really summed up this film in that it rammed home a right on message. It often tried too hard.
Many have commented on the realistic and believable nature of this near future. It just made me shake my head.
This was a premise film (what would a world that was sterile be like?) and it had no convincing story to carry this premise. In fact, quite ironically, the world we discover is not sterile. There are no explanations as to why the world went sterile in the first place, beyond a curse from God, and we find that it is in fact not sterile as Kee is having a baby. What sets her apart? Nothing it seems. So we must conclude that all over the world there are other Kees.
There are a host of other issues force fed to us: environmentalism, nationalism, treatment of illegal immigrants - but it is all in your face and tabloid. This film tries too hard to be right on without have a narrative to speak of, beyond the single journey of woman with a baby and a reluctant hero to end up is a dinghy being picked up by some enigmatic last hope organisation.
So to conclude. Some great acting, some good set pieces and camera work but a dire script and poorly conceived shovel fed moralistic stance.