Super

Questions.

I have questions.

Lots and lots of questions.

A.I., Steven Speilberg’s first movie not based on a true story in years (thankfully) is also his best in years. Is this because it’s a combined effort with the late Stanley Kubrick? Or is it because Speilberg has grown into truly extraordinary cinematic stature? And what the heck are those things at the end?

Sorry, off topic.

A.I is a great film. It embodies almost everything a movie-going experience should be. Entirely original in all of its elements, watching this film is like going to the movies for the first time. Its plot at first seems unoriginal. Actually, it brings to mind another Spielberg movie that features two initials in the title. Even the horrible slogan, “His love is real, but he is not,” sounds corny and sentimental. But once the movie launches, and it does launch, it leaves behind any preconceived notions of familiarity and cliché and enters its own world. That world is one of questions.

The film basically opens with the question, “What responsibility does a human have to a robot that genuinely loves?” Throughout A.I., we dissect and digest this question and open it up into additional questions, and sub clauses of those questions, and sub clauses of those sub clauses, etc. What responsibility do humans have to said robot if they don’t know he loves? What responsibility do humans have to each other, once a loving robot is introduced? What separates that robot from other robots? And from humans? By the time two hours have passed, we realize that the silly slogan is actually a central

theme. If his love is real, then isn’t he? And if he is not real, then how can his love be, as love is a quality of humans? And if his love is returned, is that returned love real, or is it as much of a fabrication as the love for which he is programmed? If his love is never actually real, then wouldn’t that make his entire quest pointless? After all, he’s just a robot. (The clichéd next line would be, “Or is he?” Not in this case. He really is just a robot.)

The two and a half hour span of the film is used to approach answers. David, the loving robot played brilliantly by soon-to-have-another-Oscar-nomination Haley Joel Osment, endures a journey that takes him to the end of the earth, a very purposeful literal statement. He is accompanied by Teddy, a great character that is basically Teddy Ruxpin of the future, and Gigolo Joe, the sex mecha played by Jude Law giving a possible Oscar-worthy performance of his own. They encounter an amazing Kubrickian homage to what today’s wrestling will one day be. They also find the future’s equivalent of Amsterdam, but with brighter lights and more obvious sexual representation. They encounter Dr. Know, voiced by Robin Williams, a futuristic satire on the most annoying qualities of an Internet search engine. Finally, David enters the submerged Manhattan, where Spielberg shows us some of the greatest visual images he has ever put on screen.

The film’s ending is just as brilliant as its premise. What at first appears to be the return of Richard Dreyfuss is actually the beginning of the answer to the questions. In a crafty bit of writing, Spielberg, who wrote the script as well for the first time in over 20 years, brings alien-like visitors to the future of the future, but doesn’t identify them as aliens. They appear to be somewhat organic, but also somewhat electronic, creating yet another question: Are these the mechas of the future who now rule the ice-covered planet, or are they aliens from another world? Either way, their purpose is a brilliant piece of storytelling that touches the deepest elements of the human condition.

A.I. is a story. From Ben Kingsley’s storybook narration to its obvious connections to “Pinocchio” and “The Velveteen Rabbit,” this film would be a true modern-day fairy tale, except Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg created it. And both of their ideas are evident in the film, which at times is chaotic. Fortunately, the film is set amidst chaos, so the struggling contrasts are well hidden. And there are moments that lean too far in one direction: the TRON-like hunting dogs seem like a deleted scene from A Clockwork Orange and the large moon-balloon reminds us all that Spielberg as a patent on the entire “moon as cinematic art” business. But the final minutes of the film secure its place in the trophy case. David finally has his mother. But is she real? And is her love for him real? The thematic questions of A.I. are left unanswered, but it does a tremendous job of making us ask.

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The film is real... hard to get through: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
by Christian De Matteo

Super

Steven Spielberg's A.I. is, unquestionably a superb film. Not movie, but film. It is a work of art to be marveled over: challenging, intense and tightly, tightly crafted.

But, it is not an easy watch. In fact, 80% of the film is excruciating, not because of its length (which, by the way, at least a half hour too long) but because the movie combines Spielberg's ability to not only tug, but play the harp on you heartstrings with Kubrick's harsh, cynical and damning view of humanity. Granted the former tempers the latter in many ways, but oftentimes it merely makes it hit all the harder. Whereas a Kubrick film can make you shake you head and think how terrible a human being's actions were, Spielberg makes you feel horrible for all the characters "good" and "bad" (and frequently neither and both) making the painful scenes all the more painful. Imagine Kubrick and Spielberg merging into one person and scripting and filming a mother abandoning her adoring child... hurts just to think about it, doesn't it?

Meet A.I., gut-wrenching, harsh, and greatly depressing, the film attempts to terrify and shame us into being more careful with science, ripping at our innards with the message, "Don't play God."

Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) is a perfect child for Spielberg to direct, bringing up all the sentimental emotions that are often Spielberg's Achilles heel with poise and reality that lends credibility to what sometimes comes of Spielberg as schlocky. Acting with his face and his heart, almost nothing seems out of his ability to make us pain for, smile at or understand his motivations. Jude Law (Gattaca) lends the comic touch that Spielberg loves perfectly and, again, realistically for the plot, playing his Gigolo-bot to perfection. Topped off with a stupendous performance by Frances O'Connor (Bedazzled) as a mother torn, who makes us feel every last strike of her emotional battering, the film pushes forth its point powerfully, twisting the knife with every step.

And for this reason, I can't raise it above a Super-- and one, that is, just above a high Solid-- despite the brilliance of the film. It accomplishes exactly what it desires, for which it deserves many applauds, but at the cost of my viewing experience, which was pained. The ending goes on too long, and hurts as much as the rest, and by the end of the film the viewer feels he himself has been physically and emotionally abused. A cautionary tale at its height, you will feel warned and scared by the end... but you will also feel unduly exhausted and wonder if the point couldn't have been made a bit quicker.

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The Rumor Mill &
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The Rumor Mill & Trivia Section: IMdb

The Rumor Mill &
Trivia Section: IMdb