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Amazon.co.uk Review
Williams plays Andrew, a robot programmed for domestic chores and sold to an upper-middle-class family, the Martins, in the year 2005. The family patriarch (Sam Neill) recognizes and encourages Andrew's uncommon characteristics, particularly his artistic streak, sensitivity to beauty, humour and independence of spirit. In so doing, he sets Williams's tin man on a two-century journey to become more human than most human beings.
As adapted by screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, the movie's scale is novelistic, though Columbus isn't the man to embrace with Spielbergian confidence its sweeping possibilities. Instead, the Home Alone director shakes off his familiar tendencies to pander and matures, finally, as a captivating storyteller. But what really makes this film matter is its undercurrent of deep yearning, the passion of Andrew as a convert to the human race and his willingness to sacrifice all to give and take love. Williams rises to an atypical challenge here as a futuristic Everyman, relying, perhaps for the first time, on his considerable iconic value to make the point that becoming human means becoming more like Robin Williams. Nothing wrong with that. -- Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
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Being a huge fan of Isaac Asimov stories and less than a fan of Robin Williams, I was filled with dread at the prospect of a schmaltzy Hollywood star vehicle of a film. I read the media reviews at it's release and watched it bomb in the cinemas and felt justified in avoiding it.
But I was very wrong.
Somehow they managed to stick pretty close to the book, certainly to the very spirit of it.
A family take receipt of a domestic robot (Andrew) who starts showing signs of unusual skills, perceptions and insights. Encouraging Andrew, the robots 'personality' is developed and it soon becomes clear that he is capable of independent thought and emotion.
The manufacturers want him back to erase his mind and as society view robots with a mixture of contempt and deep-rooted fear, Andrew's development is kept strictly low profile.
As time passes, Andrew wants to be human. As electro-mechanical components are systematically replaced over time by organic parts and prosthetics, Andrew gradually becomes a living being. But is he human?
This is the big poser. If you are made like a human, think like a human, feel like a human and want to be a human, why aren't you human?
The film does an excellent job of showing the social prejudices and Andrew (played by Robin Williams) does well to portray this unique characters emotions, interactions, conflicts and struggles.
Constrained by the 3 Laws of Robotics, Andrew has his work cut out to be recognised as a human over a period of two hundred years. His reward is final acceptance and a right to die.
Asimov's fictional societies, that included robots, were analogous to the worst kind of racist societies that existed in America at the time of writing.
Williams is very good, but just a little too slushy at times. The rest of the cast are good and the sets are generally excellent.
This is a great film - buy it!
I think that this was one of Robin Williams' best performances ever, if not the best. He proves that he can either play a 'funny wacky' character but also a serious character that will touch the hearts of the viewers. And this movie does just that.
I like the purity and the innocence of the story
Firstly I honestly believe that this a great film in its own right. I watched it several times before reading the book, and wouldn't hesitate to... Read more
What I really loved was the reference to the Pygmalion legend (see My Fair Lady)and that Galatea the robot/nurse/pseudo... Read more
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