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On the other hand, a pretty woeful movie like Children of Men, that appeared to have a point, was wonderful.
I didn't particularly like Et tu Mama Tambien, but Alfonso Cuaron's other three films have been uniformly fantastic. (The Little Princess, Harry Potter and the Prisonzer of Azkaban, and his latest.) The guy's a budding genius, imo.
His latest is a great fable about a dystopian future where mankind has been infertile for almost 20 years. The vision of the future presented is completely eerie. Cuaron wisely strayed from the book and, instead of making the scene futuristic, made the environment uncannily like our own ... with the terrifyingly believable addition of world chaos.
Clive Owens (great, as usual) stumbles into the situation of protecting the first pregnant woman in 18 years. In a wonderful performance, Michael Caine offers a bit of safe haven in what is otherwise a suspenseful, harrowing adventure.
Much has been made of the fact that Cuaron used extremely long takes for much of the film ... but I found the film so engrossing that this bit of technique was barely noticeable. If anything, it pulls you into the story and the action in a unique way, and does not stand out as showy filmmaking.
This is not a cheerful movie, but I highly recommend it.
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