Infertile world fertile ground for sci-fi thriller

"The world has collapsed; only Britain soldiers on."

-- British TV announcer in "Children of Men"

Just about every movie set in the future paints the bleakest picture imaginable. Cities are in ruins, chaos rules the streets, oppressive governments watch your every move -- and it's usually raining.

Not to mention the fashion. Why are muted grays and trench coats always the wave of the future? Does the Bible foretell of a worldwide ban on pastels in the 21st century?

These movies could be viewed as cautionary tales, warning us that if we don't get our act together, the world will crumble under the weight of terrorism and disease and corruption and hate. They also could be taken as evidence of our overwhelming lack of faith in our children and our children's children. Guess we don't believe they'll have the hearts and minds to right our wrongs and create a better world.

"Children of Men" is a dark and violent near-future sci-fi thriller set in Britain in 2027, which isn't all that far off. (I mean, Dakota Fanning will only be in her early 30s.) But if you think things are rough now, wait until you get a load of this era.

Every civilization except Britain is in total ruins -- and Britain itself is teetering on the brink of anarchy. All refugees are rounded up, caged and deported to distant outposts. London is dirty and dangerous, and is plagued by random bombings. Government troops are at war with a rebel group known as the Fishes.

And for reasons never explained, no child has been born anywhere on the planet since 2009. There is no next generation. The world is dying.

The always-excellent Clive Owen (the ruddy-faced tough guy who might have been the only better James Bond than Daniel Craig) plays Theo Faron, a former activist who is yanked back into the game by his former lover Julian (Julianne Moore), who pulled away from him years ago, after the death of their child.

Knowing Theo is nearly broke and living from whiskey bottle to whiskey bottle, Julian and her cohorts kidnap Theo and "ask" him to help them transport a teenage refugee named Kee out of the country and to the near-mythical (and never-seen) Human Project, a sanctuary where scientists and doctors are working furiously to solve the infertility question.

Why is this 18-year-old girl so important to the Fishes and their fight for freedom and equality? Why are they willing to risk their lives before they would let the government get its controlling hands on her?

Here's a hint: She's taken to wearing baggy blouses and she's not always feeling so great.

Clive Owen is an actor who looks most comfortable onscreen when he's wiping blood off his lip and ignoring the fact that he's been wearing the same clothes for three straight days. He's perfectly cast as the me-first, reluctant anti-hero who will talk a tough game but will do the right thing when push comes to gunshots.

Julianne Moore is an actor's actor, but she seems disconnected from her role as a tough-talking, freedom-fighting rebel leader. Her character might not be a pivotal to the story as the ads and trailers indicate, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The ubiquitous Michael Caine provides welcome comic relief as a senior citizen hippie (with an unconvincing wig) who lives in the woods, smokes pot, tends to his invalid wife and provides a hiding place for Theo, no questions asked.

Peter Mullan, who always looks like he could tell a story about the time he beat up three soccer hooligans on his way home from the pub, provides crackles and sparks as a corrupt security guard who's willing to help Theo and Kee -- up to a certain point.

Directed with gritty style by Alfonso Cuaron ("Y Tu Mamba Tambien," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), "Children of Men" is crammed with big ideas, but isn't particularly interested in exploring those ideas. Why exactly did every country except Britain collapse? What did they do here that wasn't done elsewhere? Why is every woman in the entire world infertile? What happened?

Maybe any attempt to explain these things would mire the story in expositional quicksand and give the film a veneer of pretentious silliness. We're just expected to accept this world and to root for Theo and Kee (the wonderfully expressive Clare-Hope Ashitey, in perhaps the most effective performance in the film) as they try to elude the government as well as the not-so-friendlies within the rebel movement.

Though he sometimes works the hand-held camera to the brink of overkill, Cuaron nevertheless stages some enormously effective battle sequences, including an elongated, climactic shoot-out that pauses for a very strange and very bold sequence that could have provoked unintentional laughter had it gone wrong.

He also creates an almost comically slow yet incredibly tense chase sequence, involving a car that won't start and a posse of gunmen on foot, that's more exciting than 90 percent of the sports-car freeway chases in mainstream films.

Outside of "Black Christmas" -- and aren't we all planning on staying outside of "Black Christmas"? -- this is probably the feel-not-so-great movie of the holiday season. But if you're in the proper, semi-dark mood, it's a gritty gem.