MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 237 this week

Code 46 (2003)

6.2
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.2/10 from 14,303 users   Metascore: 57/100
Reviews: 143 user | 132 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com

A futuristic 'Brief Encounter', a love story in which the romance is doomed by genetic incompatibility.

0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 2653 titles created 11 months ago
 
a list of 203 titles created 22 Apr 2012
 
a list of 1500 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 363 titles created 28 Sep 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Code 46 (2003)

Code 46 (2003) on IMDb 6.2/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Code 46.
4 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Gattaca (1997)
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

Director: Andrew Niccol
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

Director: Michael Radford
Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton
Drama | Thriller | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.4/10 X  

It's All About Love is the story of two lovers and their attempts to save their relationship in a near-future world on the brink of cosmic collapse. John, and world-famous ice skating star,... See full summary »

Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, Sean Penn
Drama | Mystery | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Director: Michel Gondry
Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Gerry Robert Byrne
Primer (2004)
Drama | Thriller | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.

Director: Shane Carruth
Stars: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden
Blade Runner (1982)
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

Deckard, a blade runner, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to Earth seeking their maker.

Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
Pi (1998)
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman
The Fountain (2006)
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn
Monsters (2010)
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

Director: Gareth Edwards
Stars: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able, Mario Zuniga Benavides
I Am Legend (2007)
Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.

Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
Flatliners (1990)
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Medical students bring themselves near death; their experiment begins to go awry.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Driver
...
Vendor
...
Sarah Backhouse ...
Weather Girl
Jonathan Ibbotson ...
Boxer
...
Sphinx Receptionist
...
Bahkland
Emil Marwa ...
Mohan
...
Wole
Bruno Lastra ...
Bikku
...
Paul
Lien Nguyin ...
Singer in Nightclub
David Fahm ...
Damian Alekan
...
Sylvie
Edit

Storyline

Code 46 is a love story set in a Brave New World-type near-future where cities are heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have "papeles" (papers in Spanish; words and sentences in many languages, especially Spanish, French and Chinese are mixed with English in this new world), a special travel permit issued by the totalitarian government, the "Sphinx". Outside these cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens - people without IDs forced to live primitive lives. William is a family man who works as a government investigator. When he is sent to Shanghai to solve a case of fake IDs, he meets a woman named Maria. Although he realizes she is behind the forgeries, he cannot help but fall completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can only last as long as his visa: 24 hours. Back home, William is obsessed with the memory of Maria. When the original ... Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

How do you solve a crime when the last thing you want to know is the truth? See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of sexuality, including brief graphic nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

17 September 2004 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

Código 46  »

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,170 (USA) (6 August 2004)

Gross:

$197,148 (USA) (27 August 2004)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Code 46 refers to the 22 chromosome pairs, plus the two sex chromosomes in human beings. See more »

Goofs

Two not related humans don't have a genetic identity of 0% and if two parents with totally different DNA have a child, the genetic identity between mother or father and child isn't exactly 50%. Even humans and chimpanzees DNA is 98.7% the same. The prohibition of 100%, 50% or 25% genetic identity doesn't make any sense. A more realistic Code 46 would be "Only parents with a genetic identity less than 99.5% are permitted to conceive" See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: code 46 / article 1 / any human being who shares the same nuclear gene set as another human being is deemed to be genetically identical. the relations of one are the relations of all. / due to IVF, DI embryo splitting and cloning techniques it is necessary to prevent any accidental or deliberate genetically incestuous reproduction. / therefore: / i. all prospective parents should be genetically screened before conception. if they have 100%, 50% or 25% genetic identity, they are not...
See more »

Connections

Featured in Obtaining Cover: Inside Code 46 (2004) See more »

Soundtracks

"No Man's Land"
Written by David Holmes
Published by Universal/Island Music Ltd
Performed by David Holmes
Courtesy of Polydor UK Ltd
Licensed by kind permission from the
Universal Film and TV Licensing Division
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Xlnt moody shots, subtle and restrained FX but poor storyline.
8 August 2006 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

First of all I was impressed by the moody shots of Shanghai and the other locations used. Almost had that Blade Runner feel for planting you in a believable future. So many films of this genre, and with massively higher budgets, often fail to achieve the lightness of touch shown here. Not the usual obviously nailed-on FX, but instead subtle and credible gizmos with the personalised touch, like Maria's cuckoo-call tone and graphics on her personal organiser that William uses when trying to find her. And the Esperanto-style combination of phrases everyone uses, from Spanish, French, Chinese etc could easily be envisaged in years to come.

But what really let it down ultimately was the story. Just at the point where you wanted the narrative to move up a gear, instead it just hung there and became a bit self-indulgent. The actors made an excellent job of an often dull script. Maybe the writer couldn't think how to end it. A shame, as it was an opportunity squandered in my opinion.

I got the feeling that Frank Cottrell Boyce, though coming up with some thought - provoking ideas in this film and having done excellent work elsewhere, possibly needed to have collaborated with another writer that could have injected some pace and fresh perspective just at the point the film ran out of steam. I'm a great fan of Michael Winterbottom's (especially on "Jude")evocative and atmospheric camera-work, but that alone couldn't salvage the film from ultimately being disappointing.


15 of 22 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Code 46 – a hard to forget movie? talktoadrian
brief graphic nudity? emogoo
What's with the Spanish? finkOne
Moral of the story is... sutats
What was the point? (Looking for explanations) ThreeCCC
Song from the Karaoke bar? a-p-frehe
Discuss Code 46 (2003) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?