The Children Act

A fascinating story with an intriguing premise based on an Ian McEwan novel that unfortunately did not translate into film as well as “Atonement” or as “A Child in Time” - for which it had shades of both - did. Emma Thompson was as usual fantastic in her role, giving gravitas, beauty and vulnerability to a character whom I suspect had a richer inner life in the book than depicted on screen. Nonetheless, she excelled in surfacing those internal emotional conflicts. Unfortunately, it was less so for Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead, who were both let down by a muddled screenplay - sadly also by McEwan - that did not fully address or realise their relationship with Thompson’s character. Richard Eyre’s direction, though competent, did not help matters as he seemed to forget that the film’s lead was a woman and it lacked the feminine-gaze. Instead, the film’s portrayal of Thompson’s character was decidedly masculine and that really eroded the relationship and chemistry with the two male actors. After watching this film, I am intrigued to go read the source material.