In the future, Richard buys an android for his family, nicknamed Andrew. With time, Andrew starts developing unusual signs of creativity and autonomous thinking, surprising Richard. Little Miss, Richard's daughter, becomes Andrew's friend. When Richard dies, Andrew sets on a quest to find out if there are other robots like him, and stumbles upon inventor Rupert Burns, who gives Andrew human skin. Little Miss dies, but Andrew moves into the home of her granddaughter, Portia. Andrew wants to experience full humanity, and thus falls in love with Portia. He also initiates a legislature in order to be recognized as a human. At 200 years, Andrew, who by now exchanged his entire robotic body with an organic body, dies, but the government recognizes him as a human being.
Despite his commercial peak in the 90s, comedian Robin Williams sometimes picked small, unusual, intimate films which reflected on some problems in humanity, and one of them was the 1999 "Bicentennial Man", an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's eponymous classic science-fiction novella written 23 years prior. "Bicentennial Man" thus stands out as one of the more experimental big budget Hollywood films, something which major companies are not willing to risk anymore. It is a philosophical thought experiment on some ancient questions—what does it take to be human? What is consciousness? What is the meaning of life?—and the director Chris Columbus already showed he has a more dramatic side with his previous tragicomedy "Only the Lonely". "Bicentennial Man" is, unfortunately, rather "flat" at times, with some corny or lame attempts at jokes (Andrew's first encounter with the "groovin'" Galatea or his wonder at achieving his first fart stand out as cringe worthy), whereas it lacks more inspiration. Williams gave in to his comedy persona in one funny little sequence in which the robot tries to tell jokes in front of the family, but just talks super fast without pause for the people to absorb it: "What is a brunette between two blondes? A translator! Do you know why blind people don't like to sky-dive? It scares their dogs! What's silent and smells like worms? Bird farts!" However, the sole concept is so genuine, one must feel for it: Andrew is basically an allegory on growing up, from the first child steps in which a young mind needs to comprehend the world, up to the need to experience life to the fullest, in all of its forms. The love subplot, not found in Asimov's original work, feels shoehorned, yet, at the same time, it gives the story that final layer or Andrew's life experience. Despite all of its omissions, only someone without a soul could dismiss this emotional story about self-improvement and recognition.
Grade:++
No comments:
Post a Comment