"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" Reviewed by Christian Pyle Written and Directed by Steven Spielberg (based on a short story by Brian Aldiss) Starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, and Frances O'Connor Official Site: http://aimovie.warnerbros.com/ Grade: B-
In "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn," a director demands final cut on his picture. A studio head responds, "Nobody gets final cut except Spielberg and Kubrick!" This is possibly the only time the names of these famous directors were mentioned in the same sentence before "A.I." linked them to the same project. Stanley Kubrick worked for years on developing Brian Aldiss' "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" into a film. Before his death, Kubrick passed the project on to Steven Spielberg. Little probably remains of Kubrick in "A.I." except for the use of some of his production designs for Rouge City, where architecture is derived from the erotic female form, and in cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's use of natural light. (Some of Kubrick's designs can be seen in the recent documentary "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures.")
The plot explores familiar science-fiction themes, particularly whether artificial intelligence (A.I.) constitutes human life. The A.I. in question belongs to David (Haley Joel Osment), a prototype of a new kind of "mecha" (android) that is capable of love. Up til now, mechas have only been able to simulate emotions, but Prof. Hobby (William Hurt) has created a child-surrogate who will genuinely love its owner/parent. Enter Monica and Henry Swinton (Frances O'Connor and Sam Robards), whose son Martin (Jake Thomas) is in a coma. Henry brings David home, and, after some initial reluctance, Monica initiates David's attachment programming. However, Martin miraculously recovers and returns home. Naturally, he resents his new brother and begins to needle David; David is unable to compete because he's programmed to be an ideal child and aspects like sibling rivalry and childish cruelty are not part of the package.
After an accident nearly drowns Martin, Monica decides to get rid of David. Once a mecha has attached itself to a parent, it cannot be reprogrammed and must be destroyed. However, Monica cannot bring herself to take David back to his manufacturer to be melted down, so she releases him in the forest. Taking his cue from Pinocchio, David decides to seek out the Blue Fairy to turn him into a real boy so his mother will love him again. As companions he has a mecha Teddy Bear (voice of Jack Angel) and a "love-mecha" named Gigolo Joe (Jude Law).
The premise seems sick and sad. Why would anyone create a child that never grows up? Why would anyone want to love a child whose destiny is to be destroyed when its parent dies or becomes bored? Kubrick specialized in "sick and sad," and he may have intended to explore these areas. However, Spielberg seems too wrapped in the high-tech Pinocchio story to think about how twisted David's very existence is.
Something about science fiction brings out the sappiest side of Spielberg. His aliens in "Close Encounters" and "ET" are the warmest and fuzziest this side of Ewoks. (But even Ewoks tried to eat the humans.) The treacle of a robot's quest to be a real boy is only interesting because the goal seems impossible. However, Spielberg seems unable to accept that. There is a point where the movie seems to end, after David finds the Blue Fairy. It's a good ending, a powerful ending, but a downer. Spielberg seems unwilling to accept that, so the movie continues the story in the even more distant future.
At the heart of the problem in "A.I." is probably Spielberg's father issues. He has a well-documented tendency to depict fathers as absent, reluctant, or distant. This theme explains the otherwise bewildering fact that David is only programmed to bond with one parent. David's "father" Henry seems irrelevant to David and to Spielberg, who uses Henry as a catalyst to introduce David to Monica, then pushes Henry aside. As David's quest develops, he doesn't want to win a place in the family; instead, he wants to eliminate his father and brother and have his mother all to himself.
Spielberg's greatest asset and greatest weakness as a filmmaker is that he is, at heart, a ten-year-old boy who never grew up. This aspect of his personality gives his films a trademark sense of wonder that can be compelling. But judging by the self-indulgent ending tacked onto this picture, the ten-year-old is still working on his Oedipal conflict.
© 2001 Christian L. Pyle
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