City of Ember

From the desk of The Movie Snob

City of Ember (B). I enjoyed this little sci-fi adventure. Some sort of impending catastrophe will make the Earth's surface uninhabitable for a long period of time. The best scientific minds come together and build the City of Ember far below the surface, where a remnant of humanity will survive for 200 years until the surface will, with luck, be habitable again. Now the 200 years have elapsed, but somewhere along the way the mayors have forgotten the City's purpose and lost the instructions that reveal how to escape the crumbling City. Two teenagers stumble upon clues to the dire reality and the escape route, but the mayor and his cronies aim to stop them. Saoirse Ronan, who was excellent in Atonement, shines as Lina Mayfleet, and she receives able support from Harry Treadway as her friend Doon Harrow. Bill Murray (Little Shop of Horrors) costars as the mayor, and Tim Robbins (Bull Durham) and Martin Landau (Ed Wood) also appear.