And it's leveled against every young adult whose parents weren't rich enough, or cold enough, to pay for designer genes. It's a precise prejudice, too. After all, names can be changed. Skin colors can vary. But chromosomes are forever, and once you draw a drop of blood from your job applicants or prospective tenants, you can plot their every problem and potential on a graph.
Every perfect system encourages someone to try and break it, however.
Vincent, however, wants to be an astronaut. Ethan Hawke plays Vincent, and he's a weak link in this story's chain. But there are stronger things in this story, including Jude Law's performance as an all-too flawed perfect man, and Uma Thurman's cool proficiency as Vincent's one friend at work. And even when the story itself falters, the visual control and powerful imagination behind it are tremendous. This is a first film for Andrew Niccol, a director who sprang from the febrile world of British advertising.