Children of Invention

Every now and again I will encounter a trailer for an out-of-the-way movie that strikes my interest. Children of Invention was such a movie. A Chinese single mother, in trying to support herself and her two children, gets unknowingly involved in a pyramid marketing scheme - where they don't sell products, but the idea of selling products to get rich quick. She has already been evicted, and taken advantage of by vitamin marketing scheme. However, just before she gets her first paycheck in this new endeavor, the company gets busted and she is taken to jail. When she doesn't return home at night, or the next morning, the children realize something is wrong. They decide to sell some of their inventions to earn enough money to buy back their house.

That sounds like the set up to a movie, but it ended up being the entire movie. Their invention sales and conclusion of the story really only took the last 15 minutes. For the first half, the mother was the main character. But once she gets arrested, the children become the protagonists.  But their story doesn't really go anywhere, because the mother's story needs to be resolved.

Even though the story was somewhat disappointing, the characters were rather realistic. Elaine was a mother who wanted to make everything right for her children - to take care of them, to make sure they knew she loved them, to let them believe that everything will always be OK because mommy is control. Raymond was an older brother beginning to understand money struggles as well as the responsibility of taking care of a younger sister. Tina was a little girl just realizing that the world doesn't revolve around her desires and needs. And she was really cute too.

Though this isn't a movie I would recommend on film-making quality, it does have many endearing and redemptive themes. It is good to see that knowing the truth, even if it hurts, is better than believing a lie, even for a child. It is good to watch a brother understand his love and desire to protect his little sister, even when she can be a brat. It is good to see a little girl give up what she wants because she loves her mommy. And it is good to watch justice and mercy work hand in hand to not completely crush this struggling family, without making everything just work out happy-go-lucky.

However, better than the movie itself, was a short film on the DVD. The Window-breaker was similar in many ways, but the story telling was much better. It touched on deceitful businesses, racial stereotyping, and inventive children. It was fun and only 12 minutes long.

Children of Invention seemed to be a good starting point for its creators. I would be very interested in seeing what else they do. They seem to have good ideas and interesting characters, but the story-telling isn't very compelling.