Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: A robot in the shape of a little boy tries to find the mother that is supposed to love him.
Biased, pithy comments: The first two thirds of this movie really hit hard what's so troubling about robots. There's nothing in here that isn't in, say, ``The Mind's I'' by Hofstadter, but it's eloquently spoken. What relationship do we have with things? I love my car, but it clearly doesn't love me back---so what am I loving? Myself? What happens if my car *does* begin to love me? Unfortunately, once we glimpse these deep, ethical questions, they are all set aside for a sort of fairy-tale ending (not to imply it's good or bad, but just...fairy tale), and it is here that the movie falls down. I was working too hard at how the physics of this situation would work to be worried about this...whatever it is and its emotional problems. I work in the very field that this movie discusses (I actually said the phrase ``digital model of friendship'' the other day more or less seriously), but I felt like this movie didn't really understand very much about the whole matter. Greater minds than mine have tried to figure out what's wrong with this production (heck, it was Kubrick's project for twelve years, and he couldn't figure it out), but it has nothing to do with the cinematography, acting, lighting, music, or special effects. In particular, sunken New York, Osment's expressions, and the teddy bear were amazing. Thematically, a mess, but a beautiful one.
Other Notes: Stanley Kubrick worked on this originally, based on a post-Golden Age short story by Brian Aldiss.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, William Hurt, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg