Summary
7 tech score
“The Children Act” (A24)
As fall approaches the subject matter and the intensity of certain actors’ performances are pronounced in the movies being released. Glenn Close jumped into the fray with her performance in “The Wife” and now Emma Thompson signals her dive into the Best Actress pool with her latest film “The Children Act.” This is a multi-layered film that analyzes a marriage and what went wrong. When it reaches a point of despair, that is where Thompson shines.
Fiona and Jack Maye (Thompson and Stanley Tucci) have been married for many years. She has pursued a career which has culminated in her being a judge, while he is a respected professor. They have no children. When this film opens Fiona is going from one trying case to another and Jack has had enough. He feels neglected and has reached the point of taking severe means to get her attention.
She is shocked by his unhappiness and can’t believe he is dissatisfied with their marriage. Her viewpoint on their relationship, or lack of one, is that it is simply the way things are. As Jack becomes more and more frustrated Fiona throws herself more and more into her work – especially a case she has before her concerning a young man with leukemia who, along with his parents, is a member of the Jehovah Witness religion. That means no blood transfusions.
Fiona becomes mildly obsessed with the case and especially with the seventeen year old who is willing to die for his faith. As a judge she has to rule whether he should be allowed to die or if the hospital can force medical treatment, including blood transfusions, upon him.
No one can project despair like Thompson (remember the Joni Mitchell scene in “Love Actually?”). As an actress she has the ability to reach deep inside herself and dredge up raw emotion that drives home the pain to her audience. It is amazing to see.
Opposite her Tucci is a leveling force. He keeps the story on an even keel as Jack tries to breach through Fiona’s shell and bring back the woman she once was. Also good is Fionn Whitehead who plays the dying boy. He is a virtual unknown so the audience immediately accepts him and his character with all his complexities and fluctuations of emotion.
The film is rated R for profanity and adult situations.
“The Children Act” centers around Thompson’s character and she delivers every nuance necessary to make her real. This ranges from a slight degree of haughtiness, based on her position, to a certain maternal longing that she has squelched at every turn. It is beautiful to watch and makes “The Children Act” a movie that should be seen.
Fall is on the horizon and Hollywood is getting serious with its movies. Make sure you see this one at your first opportunity.
I scored “The Children Act” a parental 7 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
