DIRECTED BY: Chris Columbus WRITTEN BY: Nicholas Kazan CAST: Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Oliver Platt
MPAA: Rated PG for language and some sexual content. Runtime: USA:130 REVIEWED BY: Alex Ioshpe (C) 1999
'Bicentennial Man' is a family film without any external motive with the exception of providing the minimum dose of entertainment. Chris Columbus, the director who gave you "Mrs. Doubtfire", plays on sentimental strings and mushy dialogue to make his point. Based on the short story by Isaac Asimov, it is supposed to be a science fiction story about a robot who wants to be human, which as you can imagine is very difficult. Starting in a not too distant future the film concentrates on a wealthy family that buys an android to help them with the house and children. Soon this robot, called Andrew (Robin Williams) shows abilities that makes his owner Mr.Martin (Sam Neill) very curious. Andrew is interested in art and music, he "enjoys" making clocks, which clearly shows that he has genuine emotions. It shows out that because of a small failure in the "electrical circuits" and "positronic brain" Andrew has accidentally gained a soul. This makes him unique and his evil creators worried. Then Mr.Martin decides to teach Andrew all the things he wasn't programmed to do. Soon Andrew wants to leave the house in pursuit of freedom, destiny and love.
This film can be described as a Disney version of Blade Runner, a film that still shines as the biggest gem in the crown of science fiction. Ever since that film, the subject of humanity still stands as one big controversy. What makes us human? The thoughts? The emotions? Is it possible to become human? At what point can we say to a robot "Now you are one of us"? These are very tough questions that require a serious and thurral approach. It is obvious that Columbus didn't take them very seriously. When you think about it, this film is not really meditating on the question "When is a robot no longer a machine, but a human being?", but tells a story about racial discrimination and lack of understanding. Andrew is so complex and emotional from the very beginning that the audience immediately accepts him as a human being, and only the society has troubles with it. In other words, it is as far from reality as from the Academy Awards. Further more, there are other annoying problems. To this day no serious filmmaker has dared to speculate about the future in more than 50 years from now. This has not been done for obvious reasons, because the filmmakers are well aware of the fact that they lack the knowledge and imagination to perform such a difficult task. Columbus is the first to have crossed that line. The result is, as you might imagine, primitive, unrealistic and incredibly disappointing effort. The world is simply frozen in time. Neither the society, fashion, culture or values have changed over 200 years. Mom is still working at the kitchen, doing the dishes. When you think back to the late 17th century and then compare it to the world we live in today, you'll see a slightly bigger difference. I am not saying that everything should change. It is unlikely that the human rights will change, but it's even more unlikely that there will not be any progress in science, technology and fashion. I suppose it's possible to watch this as a some sort of bizarre fairytale, but it's really hard. Robin Williams is hidden behind c and speaking in a robotic way. As always he does a decent job, as does Sam Neill. But it doesn't really matter. It is the sentimentality and length that turns this picture into a tiresome experience. Pretty much like last year's "Meet Joe Black", this is a primitive and unresolved story which is presented with a splendor and professionalism that it doesn't deserve. Great actors and a talented crew have worked hard to achieve something that will be instantly forgotten. When Isaac Asimov wrote this story, the future seemed far away and magical. Everything seemed possible. Now is the future of Asimov's time, and we know that it is not as magical and perfect as it seemed a long time ago. For the same reasons that the young generation of today can not be amazed by Julius Verne's "20 000 leagues under the sea", so can't we accept this story as a potential reality. Let us hope that next year's "A.I." will be more rewarding.
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