DVD Review: Code 46

Que this one up in the Netflix roster if the significant other is out of town and you want to dive into a more recent artflick.
Here's the plot summary: Tim Robbins is a corporate espionage investigator that falls in love with the woman (Samantha Morton) guilty of passing the goods onto friends outside of the company. Sound pretty slick and fast paced, huh? Guess again. This is true science fiction in terms of setting it in the near future, so no set pieces or space travel. Like Wenders "Until The End Of The World" Winterbottom sets this in real cities, real buildings, real locations, real cars. Yet invasive technology is all around the characters, social stratification is the subtext and everyone speaks slang in 3-4 different languages.
Stylistically, this is French New Wave meets Steven Soderberg. Not much time or dialogue is spent on selling the audience that Robbins and Morton are truly in love. More screen time is devoted to the really cool buildings that currently exist that look futuristic. The cameras are handheld and the editing is non-linear.
Overall, the concepts are interesting and the picture is beautiful to look at. I just wish I cared about the characters.

Rating: Worth The Rental Fee