A fantastic story ruined by an overtly political director and poor screen writing.

Rating: 4/10 (25 January 2007)

I saw this film last night, and was sorely disappointed. After reading the reviews here on IMDb and elsewhere, I was expecting an engaging thought provoking film. What I got was anything but...
While I did find "Children of Men" to be masterfully shot, and wonderfully acted, the film itself was a severe disappointment. One is nearly beaten over the head with Director, Alfonso Cuarón's anti-Bush and Anti-Iraq war statements throughout the movie in overtly obvious and uncreative ways.
Early in the movie the assault begins, when during an interior shot of the country retreat of Jasper Palmer, wonderfully played by Michael Caine, one is force fed pictures of Anti-Iraq war protesters which supposedly happened twenty years before the events of this film are to have taken place.
Later, when the characters reach the "Fugie" refugee camp, the background is filled with reenactments of the Abu-Ghraib photographs. At one point an panning shot shows an man in the olive drab poncho and black hood, standing on top of a box with his arms outstretched in an exact replica of the world famous Abu-Ghraib "torture" photo. Next to him is a cluster of men in their underwear cowering back from a guard and his snarling, barking dog.
It is these types of overly political statements that abound in this movie, that show that Alfonso Cuarón was more interested in the making a statement with the film than telling a good story. The real crime, is that those overly overt images were not needed to make the film's viewers consider such deep and meaningful questions. The book's subject matter already invited thought on the subjects of politics and immigration. Mr. Cuaron merely cheapened that internal dialogue, and dated the film with his horrible screenplay.
I would recommend that potential viewers wait until this comes to cable, as it is definitely NOT worth paying movie house prices to see. Spend the money on the book, and watch the movie for free once it shows up on HBO or Cinemax.