A. I. Artificial Intelligence (B+ or 3/4 stars)
A highly-advanced robot boy hopes he can become a real boy in 'Pinochhi-', oh, sorry, no. No, that's quite wrong ... I mean, in 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence', a sci-fi movie thought-up by the deceased Stanley Kubrick, & directed by Steven Spielberg. David (Haley Joel Osment) wants to be a real boy so that he can win the love of the human mother (Frances O'Connor) who ditched him some time ago. Like Pinocchio, he finds his own blue fairy; this time in the form of Gigolo Joe (Jude Law). But will David's dreams come true? This is a hauntingly beautiful film. But it's too depressing for me. And some slow moments didn't help, either.
The plot takes place in the future. The polar caps have melted & the rise of the oceans has enveloped the seaside cities of the world. And like 'Moulin Rouge' from this year, there's a sin-and-sex center aptly named 'Rouge City'. The future that's depicted in this film is one that recalls Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. Awesome stuff. Anyway, back to the story: David is a child substitute 'mecha' - a synthetic who can actually love. In this plot, the object of his misplaced 'love' is his mother, Monica. Depressed, she & her husband, Harold (Sam Robards) decide to own a 'mecha' in place of their son (who's been sitting in a coma for years). It is Harold who brought David home as a pilot project from his job, Cybertronics of New Jersey. Things get tricky around the household, though, when Monica & Harold's real son, Martin, comes OUT of the coma & returns home for good!
Can the real son & the robot exist in the same household? Will the love be shared? Things are swell for a while, but when David mistakenly injures the couples 'real' boy, Monica is forced to take David into the woods to lose him. This is horrifying stuff, folks. Having built-up a never-ending love for Monica, he's thoroughly confused as to what's happening. She's crying because she feels bad, but knows she has to do it. I wanted to jump into the screen and cradle the poor robot kid, myself. With time, he is found (unfortunately) by a group of anti-robot fanatics. Held captive by them, David actually befriends Gigolo Joe, an unlikely ally; and one who helps him escape. Many events occur leading up to the protracted, dreamlike epilogue that basically made me want to crawl into a hole & die.
Visually, 'A.I.' is pure magic. For 146 minutes we are transported to a realistically-depicted future world ... so realistic, it's scary. Haley Joel Osment uses great restraint as David the robot. Never does he under or overdo it. And my heart breaks for him incessantly. Frances O'Connor is simply wonderful as the tortured Monica. Her emotions are so real & clear for all of us to see throughout the film (depressed, scared, hesitant, happy, saddened, hopeful). She & Osment put me through the emotional ringer. So, yeah, the acting is wonderful. Also great are the mesmerizing visual effects, cinematography, set designs, & a gorgeous, meditative music score; truly angelic. Spielberg manages to create an otherworldly mood that never wanes. The film is like watching a 2.5 hour poem unfold onscreen.
But I have some issues. Because Kubrick had such a cold, dim, twisted outlook of human nature, & because Spielberg's works have an air of warmth, optimism, & poignancy to them ... the 2 completely different tones do not always mesh (most evidenced in the handling of the heartbreaking conclusion). It's almost too beautiful & too sad. Because of the tonal dissonance, I felt my emotions being tossed around everywhere.
Not only were my emotions tossed, but some truncated subplots & muddled ideas (on life, love, God, robots) make this potentially superb movie kind of slip away from greatness. I don't think Spielberg completely gets to follow through on the moral/ethical ideas he introduces (because it's not his baby, it's Kubrick's). An uneven pace didn't help my viewing pleasure, either (i.e., William Hurt's speeches go on & on). Still, watching 'A.I'. IS a captivating experience. It's art. I just don't know if you'd ever want to see it again (unless you dig it, of course). Though it's technically brilliant & admirably ambitious, I also found it ponderous & hard to swallow. It's good when movies make you cry (like this), but it also creeps me out thinking about it afterwards. I don't think that was its intent.
The plot takes place in the future. The polar caps have melted & the rise of the oceans has enveloped the seaside cities of the world. And like 'Moulin Rouge' from this year, there's a sin-and-sex center aptly named 'Rouge City'. The future that's depicted in this film is one that recalls Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. Awesome stuff. Anyway, back to the story: David is a child substitute 'mecha' - a synthetic who can actually love. In this plot, the object of his misplaced 'love' is his mother, Monica. Depressed, she & her husband, Harold (Sam Robards) decide to own a 'mecha' in place of their son (who's been sitting in a coma for years). It is Harold who brought David home as a pilot project from his job, Cybertronics of New Jersey. Things get tricky around the household, though, when Monica & Harold's real son, Martin, comes OUT of the coma & returns home for good!
Can the real son & the robot exist in the same household? Will the love be shared? Things are swell for a while, but when David mistakenly injures the couples 'real' boy, Monica is forced to take David into the woods to lose him. This is horrifying stuff, folks. Having built-up a never-ending love for Monica, he's thoroughly confused as to what's happening. She's crying because she feels bad, but knows she has to do it. I wanted to jump into the screen and cradle the poor robot kid, myself. With time, he is found (unfortunately) by a group of anti-robot fanatics. Held captive by them, David actually befriends Gigolo Joe, an unlikely ally; and one who helps him escape. Many events occur leading up to the protracted, dreamlike epilogue that basically made me want to crawl into a hole & die.
Visually, 'A.I.' is pure magic. For 146 minutes we are transported to a realistically-depicted future world ... so realistic, it's scary. Haley Joel Osment uses great restraint as David the robot. Never does he under or overdo it. And my heart breaks for him incessantly. Frances O'Connor is simply wonderful as the tortured Monica. Her emotions are so real & clear for all of us to see throughout the film (depressed, scared, hesitant, happy, saddened, hopeful). She & Osment put me through the emotional ringer. So, yeah, the acting is wonderful. Also great are the mesmerizing visual effects, cinematography, set designs, & a gorgeous, meditative music score; truly angelic. Spielberg manages to create an otherworldly mood that never wanes. The film is like watching a 2.5 hour poem unfold onscreen.
But I have some issues. Because Kubrick had such a cold, dim, twisted outlook of human nature, & because Spielberg's works have an air of warmth, optimism, & poignancy to them ... the 2 completely different tones do not always mesh (most evidenced in the handling of the heartbreaking conclusion). It's almost too beautiful & too sad. Because of the tonal dissonance, I felt my emotions being tossed around everywhere.
Not only were my emotions tossed, but some truncated subplots & muddled ideas (on life, love, God, robots) make this potentially superb movie kind of slip away from greatness. I don't think Spielberg completely gets to follow through on the moral/ethical ideas he introduces (because it's not his baby, it's Kubrick's). An uneven pace didn't help my viewing pleasure, either (i.e., William Hurt's speeches go on & on). Still, watching 'A.I'. IS a captivating experience. It's art. I just don't know if you'd ever want to see it again (unless you dig it, of course). Though it's technically brilliant & admirably ambitious, I also found it ponderous & hard to swallow. It's good when movies make you cry (like this), but it also creeps me out thinking about it afterwards. I don't think that was its intent.