+

Year of release: 2012
Director: Jake Schreier
Writer: Christopher D. Ford
Starring: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler, Peter Sarsgaard, etc.

For more information on “Robot & Frank”, visit Wikipedia and/or IMDb

 

General impression:
For the first part of the movie, I thought I was about to watch a story about good robots and bad people – a sort of “Artificial Intelligence” only far more boring in its (hyper)realistic take on the topic. With no spark to light up my curiosity, I kept watching the movie because Frank Langella made it bearable. And then, the moment came when the pieces of the puzzle came together, revealing the promise of a beautiful image. The action takes place in the years yet to come, yet the futuristic vision is not grandiose, which suggests definite emphasis on the human component. The subject of the story is not the relationship between man and machine, but a friendship ideal, memory and memories. A senior man, played by Langella, receives a robot programmed to take care of him, an empty vessel for his needs and projections. The robot, with its total clarity and lack of emotion, has a quality that resembles innocence, and, at first, the man tries to take advantage of this quality. However, the honesty, dedication and loyalty in the powerful programming of the robot touch the man, and his feelings change.

Highlights:
All in all, it’s a touching story.

Downside:
It seems to unfold just a bit too slowly.

Would I see it again? – Yes, someday

My Rating (1 to 10): 8

Recommended: Yes

Suggestion:
It’s an appropriate movie for those calm evenings when you’re in the mood to watch something gentle and emotional.