Code 46

Before I get too far into this review, I need to make a few statements:

1) It is impossible to review an indy flick without giving massive spoilers away
2) I’m a sucker for indy films

As long as you understand the ramifications of both of those points, read on.

Code 46 is set somewhere between 60 and 100 years in the future. In that time, the following has happened:

• We’ve screwed up the atmosphere pretty bad and have to do everything either indoors or at night.

• Most of the planet is a desert wasteland.
• A mix of English with a healthy doses of Spanish, French and Chinese has become the planetary language of choice.
• GATTACA-type reproductions have made skin coloration a completely inaccurate way of figuring out where someone is from and made the potential of accidental inbreeding an ominous reality.
• We still drive in cars and fly great distances in planes. Where the hell are my flying cars, dammit!

The story follows William (played by one of my all-time favorite freaks Tim Robbins,) an intuitive investigator from Seattle on the trail of someone passing out counterfeit visas (known as ?covers? or ?papelles?) in smoggy Shanghai. You see, in this dystopia, you have to have special clearance to travel from one part of the world to another. Not to curb immigration, but to reduce the chance of genetic mixing with your first cousins. Complicated world, this is.

The ?someone? passing the fake covers is Maria (played by not-much-more-hair-at-least-on-her-head-than-when-in-Minority Report’s Samantha Morton). And in the one predictable spot in the film, Timmy falls in love with this butch-headed beauty when his empathy virus causes him to go a bit wacky and spend the rest of the movie trying to stick it to The Man. Nice to know The Man is still around in 100 years, even if they did leave out the flying cars. Bastards.

So what’s a ?Code 46?? It’s the legal code for when two individuals of at least 25% shared genetic makeup do the horizontal bop. You get your memories wiped, your pee-pee slapped and/or uterus scraped. And if you’re really unlucky, you get thrown ?outside?. See my earlier comment about the desert wasteland. Inside good, outside bad.

Indy film fans will love this movie for its roaming sub-surface plot, the grainy cinematography, long shots sans dialog, and lack of a happy ending. The rest of the uncultured masses will hate it for the same reasons. You want a movie where the sci-fi is in your face? Rent Starship Troopers 2. You want quality cinema? Go see Code 46. And then buy it when it comes out on DVD. But leave a copy for me.

Evo’s Rating: 5 out of 5. Yeah. I’m serious.

Oh, and you have to love a film where the lead character asks deep questions like: ?I always wondered why the coyote didn’t just go out and buy a Road Runner. He had enough money to buy rocket-powered roller-skates so he had money to buy a Road Runner.? Word.

The soundtrack also friggin’ rocked my world. You should buy it. Now.

Code 46
Directed by
Michael Winterbottom
Release date: August 6, 2004 (limited)