What a great expression George Weigel's come up with for our coterie of bioethicists --people who routinely wrestle with their consciences and win. The topic of his column is stem cells, and the boiler plate poor job 60 Minutes did asking the "Go!" side any questions recently.
At the recommendation of a friend I watched The Island this weekend -- a movie about the unrecognized humanity of clumps of cells. If you missed it (and judging by the numbers, everyone did), it's about a Huxley-esque controlled world after nuclear holocaust, in which people live for the opportunity to "go to the island" --the last natural spot on earth-- and re-populate it. Except it turns out that's not what's happening at all. . . .
The first half is well done. The second half is mostly chase scenes and pieces falling into place a little too neatly. Definitely only low B summer blockbuster fare: still, it's certainly as "good" as, say, Independence Day, or Revenge of the Sith, but with a more interesting and believable premise. It's difficult to know why it didn't do better at the box office, and more difficult still to suppress the suspicion that its politically incorrect premise prevented critics from giving it good buzz. I'm not saying it'll change your life, but you could do worse if you're in a chase-scene kind of mood.
