AI - Artificial Intelligence

By RAC1 for CVN

Rating: B-
Overview: Not bad, not that good, but worth a watch.
Running time: 224 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.
Studio: DreamWorks
Genre: SciFi

Before I went to see this movie, I quickly clicked into Amazon.com and ordered the book of the film. If you have read the book, you will be surprised, as the movie doesn’t follow the book’s plot at all. I was quite shocked. IN the start, Brian Aldiss (the author) was planning to make the movie with Stanley Kubrick, but nothing happened with that, and later Spielberg got his hands on it.

I tell you, up until about 30 minutes from the end, there was a gripping story, with some great Stanley Kubrick moments. All through it, I thought “Is this the Shining or AI?” as there were some dark moments, which just shouted out “KUBRICK”, and then again, one or two which shouted out “schmoltisie Spielberg!” The ending (I won’t give it away) is an incredible example of a true Spielberg moment - and if you want to find out, go and see the movie!

Haley Joel Osment was pretty good, but he freaked me out. Whenever he was on screen I just kept thinking “I See Dead People.” Jude Law played an excellent part as Joe, David’s (Haley Joel-Osment) only friend in this harsh world of the future.

The plot: A man and woman’s son is in a coma, so the father invents a robot child who can genuinely love, and care about people. From there it is all downhill. I’ll try not to reveal too much, but when David is left alone in the big, bad world, he goes in search of the “blue fairy” to turn him into a real boy. Shades of Pinocchio! Guess how that ends. (Ambiguous question - eh?)

The Players: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances

O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt

Our source for information and editing on this film was Rotten Tomatoes