Emma Thompson Gives Another Outstanding Performance in ‘The Children Act’

Sandra Miska

Balancing one’s personal and professional obligations is never easy, but one woman has an especially tough of it in the drama “The Children Act.” The great Emma Thompson stars as Fiona Maye, a British judge who presides over cases pertaining to children. Thompson exudes professionalism as Justice Maye, a cool-headed woman whose job requires her to listen to testimony dealing with medical ethics and minors. She literally has the power of life and death, as the viewer sees here in the beginning when she must make a ruling in a case about infant conjoined twins. If they are separated, one will instantly die while the other is given the chance to flourish, the alternative being eventual death for both. After handing down a ruling she believes is in the best interest of the children and experiencing the inevitable backlash, she gets no relief at home, as her husband of 20 years, Jack (Stanley Tucci), drops a bombshell: He wants to have an affair. Adapted by Ian McEwan from his novel of the same name, “The Children Act” explores the plight of a woman who struggles to remain composed and live her life with dignity while those around her put her to the test.

Just as he did with “On Chesil Beach,” another novel of McEwan’s that he adapted this year, the writer explores issues relating to sexual incompatibility in “The Children Act.” However, unlike the young newlyweds in that novel and film, Fiona and Jack once had a active sex life, but the passion has died down in recent years, and at the start of the story, it has been eleven months since they have had sex, something Jack petulantly points out using a journal as evidence. Jack announces his intention to have an affair with a colleague half his age, and shockingly Fiona protests his plans to open their marriage, very straightforwardly promising him a divorce; this is not a woman to be bullied into anything.

Fortunately, the focus of the film isn’t on the melodrama of a crumbling marriage, but rather on one of Justice Maye’s cases and its aftermath. Fiona must decide the fate of a leukemia patient, Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead), who has rejected what could be a life-saving blood fusion due to his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness. His parents agree with his decision, and because he is still a few months away from his 18th birthday, his case ends up in Fiona’s court. Torn after hearing all the facts and about Adam’s and his parents’ religious convictions, she decides to visit the young man herself, and the result is the two forming a bond.

Ironically, Fiona’s ensuing relationship with Alex has more of an effect on her emotionally than her husband’s affair. Alex, unlike her husband, has clear convictions about right and wrong, and as much as she tries to keep a professional distance, she finds herself unable to entangle herself from this young man who sees her as being a savior of sorts. In the end, this is another film that meditates on how a woman’s work is never done; she just can’t clock out and go home, as there are always those standing by to pull at her sleeves and demand her attention.

While the script has its flaws and isn’t as tight as it could be, McEwan gives the viewer a lot to contemplate about ethics, both in medicine and in relationships, as well as in religion. The highlight is definitely Thompson’s performance. It’s hard to believe that after decades of cranking out emotional performances, she only has one Oscar for acting under her belt.

“The Children Act” opens Sept. 14 in New York and Los Angeles and is available on DirectTV.