You make good points about the theme of reluctant fatherhood Clive Owen's characters have had thrust upon them. There was a great line in The International, where the character Wilhelm Wexler calls him an idealist, and "truehearted". Ah. "Truehearted." That's a characteristic that underlines all his recent movies, even those operating in the moral grey area.

And he is a good actor? I say it's all in the eyes. He can convey more depth through a glance only than a dozen other actors. I'd say too that those who complain he's monotonous or "one note" simply can't read that kind of subtlety.

As a novelist writing a (very deep grief-haunted) male character, I couldn't see who might be able to play the role if I were casting it for it, until I saw Clive in Children of Men. THAT's the depth I want for this character, that true hearted idealism.

Thanks for the podcast, as always! Your discussion helped me realize how much my view of Clive Owen was tainted by the first film I knew him in, Closer. While he may have been the most decent character in that story, the film was so jaundiced and cruel that its taste lingered for a long time whenever I saw Owen's name in a trailer.

I'm guessing this movie is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but it's a wild guess and I have no idea what the scene based on a painting would be.

Wow...a whole podcast about clive owen. Yeah thats great...really great. Informative stuff I mean real hard nosed film journalism. This is the reason I listen...to hear 30 minutes of praise for an actor who is already so famous. What amazes me about clive owen is that he manages to play the same charater in every film and still get away with it. Yeah what a guy! What are you doing next week again