A.I. (2001)
The genesis of A.I. has been well documented so I won't go into too much detail. Suffice to say that Stanley Kubrick, Brian Aldiss and Ian Watson have had their fingers in the pie but Spielberg shoved his whole hand in. Scientist Allen Hobby (a stilted William Hurt) has created David (Haley Joel Osment), a robot that is human in every respect except that he loves unconditionally and without choice. The obvious test parent for him is Monica (Frances O'Connor), the wife of an employee whose own terminally ill son, Martin, is in cryogenic suspension. Inevitably Martin (Jake Thomas) recovers from his illness. From that point it is only a matter of time until David's presence in the household no longer becomes tolerable. Unable to return him to the company for destruction Monica drives him to the woods and abandons him to fend for himself. At this point David begins his quest to become a real boy and the film falls apart.
Since this is a quest David must overcome obstacles. The first of these is the Flesh Fair - a combination of rodeo, WWF and Running Man (1987) - where robots are tortured to death in front of baying hoards (appallingly Chris Rock appears playing Chris Rock the robot). It is here that David meets robot prostitute Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) who explains that humans hate robots because they fear them because they built them "too fast, too smart and too many." This only illustrates that we are never presented with a coherent view of this future. From here we move to Rouge City, an equally garish and implausible setting, where David picks up further plot coupons before heading on to the drowned city of Manhattan. Joe exists solely to facilitate David's movement from A to B and once they are at their final destination he conveniently disappears (thanks to a poorly integrated subplot seemingly designed for this purpose alone.)
The obvious ending is for David to realise that he is a real boy, regardless of his basic composition. Unfortunately David is not quite a real boy (though he is much more so than Spielberg seems to believe). The film's tagline is: "His love is real. But he is not." In fact his love is not real but pre-programmed and David's lack of volition is the very thing that stops him from becoming truly real. Instead for a moment we think Spielberg has given us a brave and fitting ending with David yearning, unanswered, in perpetuity. Then the soothing tones of Ben Kingsley are heard and the films veers off in an unexpected and unwelcome new direction. This conclusion forms the third act of the film and is as jarring as the previous transition.
One of the most surprising things about A.I. is how much it rests on Osment's shoulders. Osment is equal to the task giving a simply excellent performance, by turns moving and disquieting. Unfortunately even this unnaturally good actor cannot save Speilberg's crude, thoughtless film.
Since this is a quest David must overcome obstacles. The first of these is the Flesh Fair - a combination of rodeo, WWF and Running Man (1987) - where robots are tortured to death in front of baying hoards (appallingly Chris Rock appears playing Chris Rock the robot). It is here that David meets robot prostitute Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) who explains that humans hate robots because they fear them because they built them "too fast, too smart and too many." This only illustrates that we are never presented with a coherent view of this future. From here we move to Rouge City, an equally garish and implausible setting, where David picks up further plot coupons before heading on to the drowned city of Manhattan. Joe exists solely to facilitate David's movement from A to B and once they are at their final destination he conveniently disappears (thanks to a poorly integrated subplot seemingly designed for this purpose alone.)
The obvious ending is for David to realise that he is a real boy, regardless of his basic composition. Unfortunately David is not quite a real boy (though he is much more so than Spielberg seems to believe). The film's tagline is: "His love is real. But he is not." In fact his love is not real but pre-programmed and David's lack of volition is the very thing that stops him from becoming truly real. Instead for a moment we think Spielberg has given us a brave and fitting ending with David yearning, unanswered, in perpetuity. Then the soothing tones of Ben Kingsley are heard and the films veers off in an unexpected and unwelcome new direction. This conclusion forms the third act of the film and is as jarring as the previous transition.
One of the most surprising things about A.I. is how much it rests on Osment's shoulders. Osment is equal to the task giving a simply excellent performance, by turns moving and disquieting. Unfortunately even this unnaturally good actor cannot save Speilberg's crude, thoughtless film.