The Children Act

The Children Act 2017

• Director: Richard Eyre
• Seen by this director – The Hollow Crown, Notes on a Scandal  
• Based on the book by Ian McEwan
• Cast: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Fionn Whitehead, Jason Watkins, Ben Chaplin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Emma Thompson – Alone in Berlin, The Love Punch, Beautiful Creatures, Brave, Harry Potter, The Boat that Rocked, An Education, Last Chance Harvey, Brideshead Revisited, Stranger than Fiction, Nannie McPhee, Angels in America, Love Actually, Wit, Sense and Sensibility, In the Name of the Father, The Remains of the Day, Much Ado about Nothing, Winter Guest, Peter’s Friends, Howards End, Dead Again, Impromptu, Henry V, Fortunes of War, Tutti Frutti
• Stanley Tucci – The Hunger Games 1-4, Fortitude, Jack the Giant Slayer, Swing Vote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Life Less Ordinary, Life During War Time, The Pelican File, Billy Bathgate, Prizzi’s Honour
• Fionn Whitehead – Dunkirk
• Jason Watkins – Friday Night Dinner, The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who
• Ben Chaplin – Cinderella, Birthday Girl, The Thin Red Line, The Remains of the Day
• Why? Emma Thompson. The book is good.
• Seen: 1 August 2020      

       Justice Fiona Maye (Thompson) has many stressful and demanding family cases behind her. She has nothing left for her husband Jack (Tucci) who leaves her just as she is handed the case of 17-year-old Adam (Whitehead), who is dying of leukaemia and who refuses a life-saving blood transfusion because he is a Jehovah’s Witness and his religion forbids it. Since he’s a minor the case is brought to court.

       It’s dramatic and profound in many ways. I can imagine no one but Thompson in this role and Whitehead too is excellent. Unfortunately, Tucci isn’t the right casting choice here.

       Ian McEwan wrote the screenplay from his novel.

4 ½ * of 5