Best Movie of 2006

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2007)

2006 was a pretty awful year for movies, but Children of Men is an astonishing exception. Well-acted, well-directed, mostly intelligently written, Children of Men is one of the best movies ever. The fact that it's a science fiction movie gauls some to the point where they will not call it science fiction. It's a dystopia set over 20 years in the future. It's a science fiction movie with great acting, which makes it a rare movie indeed.
V for Vendetta, the other big British dystopia, got more attention earlier in the year as it was a very flashy, explosive movie. But what Children of Men lacked in explosions, it more than made up for in a stronger sense of reality.
I'm sure you've heard the plot - it's about 20 years in the future, women stopped reproducing and a flu pandemic killed many children. There's no one left younger than 18, so the remaining countries are in complete despair. Clive Owen is the poster boy for despair. I've enjoyed performances by Clive Owen in the past, but he's emotionally naked in this movie and he's absolutely superb.
There's an extraordinary scene late in the movie that may be one extremely long tracking shot (or, then again, maybe not). It follows Clive Owen into a street battle and into a ruined apartment building. It shows the harrowing nature of urban warfare better than almost any movie I've ever seen.
While it was a very violent movie in places, it's not gratuitously violent. The R rating may be more for the language than for the violence (well, and one scene involving a naked woman, but the nudity is not gratuitous either).
I highly recommend this movie.