Children of Men

Based on a short story by PD James, Alfonso Cuáron's dystopian fiction is yet another interesting change of pace for the Mexican director following his successful stint on the Harry Potter series. Set in the near future, Children of Men imagines a world in which human beings are no longer able to reproduce. The world has collapsed and only Britain soldiers on, albeit in a rather beleaguered fashion; in the opening ten minutes we see a bomb going off in a coffee shop, illegal immigrants being kept in cages and billboards covered in ominous graffiti such as "Whoever dies last, turn out the light".

Persuaded to help join his activist ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), Theo (Clive Owen) agrees to assist in gaining a young refugee woman, Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), safe passage to the coast. Although it is hidden from Theo at first, Kee reveals that she is pregnant and that she hopes to make her way to the Human Project, a group of scientists based in the Azores that hope to find a cure for human infertility.

The film drops us straight in the action, smartly offering us little in the way of exposition and instead positing itself as a franctic chase narrative as Theo and Kee attempt to make their way to the coast. Cuarón's vision of the not-too-distant future is spot-on. Murky, depressing and grey, it's not too far removed from today's London which, of course, makes the movie's political subtexts all the more apparent. Although the action scenes are undeniably impressive - especially a couple of outstanding one-shot sequences - the layered characterisation and performances (Owen in particular) help to invest the viewer in the outcome of the story. Technically flawless, this is testament to what a skilled writer/director Cuarón has become over the course of just six films.

Hamlet at Wyndhams Theatre

After buying backseat tickets many many months ago, I finally got the opportunity to see Jude Law as Hamlet last night at the Wyndhams Theatre. I've not seen Hamlet performed before and, of the Shakespeare I've seen, I do tend to prefer the comedies. I've got such entrenched ideas of the tragedies - which I read and studied to death at university - that any variation angers me. I've also got a thing against people in the audience that laugh because most people tend to be a laughing in a "I understood that particular play on words because I know, read and understand Shakespeare. Therefore I must laugh to make sure everyone around me knows that I got the joke even when the joke isn't laugh-out-loud funny." But that's just my cross to bear and I realise I can be a bit of an arse about these things.

Anyhow...this was a solid Hamlet. Nothing spectacular of life-altering but a respectable stab nonetheless. Jude Law was great in the lead role. At first I was put off by his performance, which begins loudly and only increases in volume. He also has a propensity to move his arms about a lot and hop about the stage. Before the First Act was over it seemed as if Law's Hamlet was stark-raving mad already when at least part of the play's tragedy is its central character's sure descent into insanity. What become clear is that underneath this bravado, pomp and circumstance is something altogether sane. During his soliloquys, Law exposes this part of the character to the audience and makes them understand the sadness behind the broken man. The "to be or not to be" soliloquy, delivered by a barefooted Law as he wanders in from the snow, is, as expected, a highlight. This great speech about the gap between thought and feeling is so haunting on the page and just as effective in performance.

The set is regal and bare, plain even but it suits the mood of the play. The lighting is used in particularly effective ways and the production is notable for its careful use of shadow and darkness. Unfortunately, given Law's impressive central performance, the rest of the cast don't really deliver. Penelope Wilton plays Gertrude as a dowdy, nervous woman, thoroughly modern and utterly out of place amongst the other players. I don't necessarily have a problem with Gertrude being played as a sympathetic character (indeed, most of her "crimes" could be read as symptoms of Hamlet's burgeoning madness), but such a homespun interpretation jars completely with the tone of the play itself and ensures that her onscreen death and Hamlet's sudden outpouring of grief as he holds her corpse carries very little emotional weight because of it. Gugu Mbatha-Raw also botches her part and lends precious little to the part of Ophelia.

The underwhelming effect of the rest of the cast does tend to dampen the power of Law's astonishing central performance. It's a solid, impressive production on many levels but, Law aside, it doesn't quite shine.

Hush

Adequate low-budget Brit thriller. A young couple, Zakes and Beth (William Ash and Christine Bottomley), are driving down the M1 when they see something scary in the van up ahead, a woman chained up and screaming. When they stop at the next service station Beth gets snatched and Zakes begins a dangerous pursuit of the man in the white van. Writer/director Mark Tonderai manages to muster a few good scares and keeps things moving at a fast lick. Ash's believable performance helps as well, although the now predictable "fleshing out" (Beth had a one-night stand with another man and is considering calling off her relationship with Zakes) of the characters before the film drops them into peril is poorly written and, in the end, serves little purpose. There are also one too many genre clichés to make Hush stand out against the likes of, say, Eden Lake.