The best part of this film was Mad Mikkelsen, an actor I’ve become very enthusiastic about. His reaction to the news was a compelling part of the film, including his attempt to reconcile his philanthropic worldview with his personal reality. (Jorgen shouts the question at him “do I have to live in another part of the world to get your help?”) I will agree that the B story involving the daughter was weak.

Have you seen him in other films. I recently watched Flame and Citron on Netflix in which he played a Dane in the resistance World WAr 2. Fantastic thriller. I’m watching Open Hearts tonight.

I picked up a little known film of his “Snake Eyes,” found in a remainder bin for a $1. Not bad…too.

Cage got some bad press when he started acting because Sean Penn, his acting buddy, accused him of selling out to do commercial films instead of taking own challenging, independent-type roles. WEll, commercial films pay bills, as even Lawrence Olivier discovered during his career. And from what I read, Cage has a lot of bills to pay.

But I always check Ebert–have done so since I was a kid when I’d check the Ebert Roeper reviews in the paper–and upon his recommendation, I saw it and absolutely loved it from beginning to end. Strong storyline, fantastic cinematography and special effects. The plane and train crashes were both unexpected and frightening. And the scene when Cage falls to his knees at the sight of the space craft–it made me wonder how I would react if I saw such a spaceship land in the woods.

Ebert is a pretty generous critic. He trusts his gut and enjoys entertaining films done well, even those more purist film critics would turn their noses up at the idea of viewing.

I like good science fiction films and if you like apocalyptic, you probably enjoyed Children of Men. one of the best films of the decade. If you haven’t read the book, I urge you to do so. You’ll be surprised at the differences between book and film, but understand the choices made to adapt the book to cinema.