Code 46 (2003)

CODE 46

DIRECTED BY: MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM
WRITTEN BY: FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE
WATCHED FOR: GREAT FILMS NOBODY SAW
RECOMMENDED BY: FLETCH
OVERALL SCORE: 6.50/10

In the future a variety of genetic overlaps have forced the authoritarian to create a special code 46 rule in order to prevent people with overly similar genes from breeding. Investigator William Geld (Tim Robbins) is sent to Shanghai in order to find a factory worker who has been stealing Papelles (a Visa like form) for people in order for them to go on unapproved vacations. While William instantly finds Maria Gonzales (Samantha Morton) to be the guilty party he is oddly drawn to her. The two share a passionate night, and he decides to lie for her, but William soon finds out there are grand consequences for his actions.

When watching Code46 it's easy to tell there's a lot of heart being put into the different aspects of the story. It feels as if Boyce really wanted to get his message across, but didn't want to fall into Hollywood cliches in order to do so. He creates a world not much different visually from our current one on the outside, and lets little subtle moments draw us in to the fact that it is futuristic. Visually, if you rip out it's narrative and concentrate solely on style, I have to say Code 46 felt a lot like Lost in Translation for me. Subtle moments make up for lack of writing, characters who don't expression a lot of emotion but rather a sort of odd bleakness that draws them towards one another.

Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton play their characters exactly how they are written, and Winterbottom fills up the secondary roles with talented British TV actors of all flavors. Perhaps the most notable part of Code 46 is that it contains a lot of diversity. The actors are from all sorts of nationalities and the sort of single global environment Boyce creates really transpires well. Though this is where my complains tend to come in. At times in the story I feel Boyce is more concerned with the world than the characters, often holding off on tension to allow William to explain his "virus" (a sort of genetic skill implanted) for the 3rd or 4th time. The different political and moral issues of the world try to be reflected in our characters but at times they seem to only serve as mediums from writer to viewer.

As such I was never really brought all the way in to the main characters. We find out little of their past, and are in turn asked to connect with them, and care for them. Sure, there's a level of admirable beauty to the whirlwind romance, and silent love, but it wasn't enough to carry me into the world alone. The ending provides a sort of double nature, somber, and yet realistic, I've yet to decide how I really feel about it. There's a sort of intrinsic beauty to the film's end, but it feels incomplete somehow. So much so that I think it's one of those things that will be memorable to those who really get absorbed in this world, and yet frustrating to those who only manage with passing curiosity. Though even with all its faults, Code 46 works because it's a small film, with a rather simple premise, and good acting. It manages to be exactly what it wants to be at every moment, and in that respect I enjoyed, and admired, it.

While it contains its share of flaws, Code 46 is a fine little futuristic romance thriller with more to say than meets the eyes.