A.I.

WARNER BROS

RELEASED 21 September 2001

This is the film Kubrick wanted to make for more than a decade and, after his untimely death, passed over to friend and blockbuster champ Steven Spielberg. So what’s it all about? Set in the future after the polar ice caps have melted, Monica (Frances O’Connor) and Henry (Sam Robards) desperately miss their comatose child, so when they’re given the chance to raise an amazingly life-like robot (David - Hayley Joel Osmet), they take it. Problems arise when their son recovers and David is thrust out into a dangerous world, searching for that which he can never attain - a soul. Firstly, I have to say Teddy. More Teddy! Teddy is a walking, talking robot teddy bear who has to be one of cinemas’ great characters. The deadpan delivery and his waddling moves are joyful to watch. It’s just unfortunate he’s in a film that will not be fondly remembered. This is not the film that Kubrick would have made. Spielberg has stained what might have been a great film with his horrible sentimental streak. I didn’t hate AI, but it didn’t excite or interest me like Spielberg has in the past. The script is SO routine. ‘Close Encounters’ is his only previous screenplay, and that was over twenty years ago. With the A-list cast and crew he assembled, why did he not employ a professional screenwriter. Big mistake. Second mistake: too long. Artificial Intelligence is always gorgeous to look at, but two hours and twenty minutes was over-indulgence. There isn’t THAT much of a story there, really. What definitely should have been cut was the third mistake: AN ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE ENDING!!!! One of the worst in recent memory. Spielberg has to make everything warm and cuddly. Ugh. There were other things I didn’t like (the music, the bland script, the never-ending Pinocchio references - we get it, for Christs sake) but it isn’t without positives. It IS a visually sumptuous experience. Top drawer effects and production were used to enhance the story, not BE the story. Performances were good throughout with Frances O’Connor coming away with the most credit.

TWO OUT OF FIVE