well, no one else has posted, so i guess i will.
we saw A.I. on Sunday. how is it? the short answer is Haley Joel
Osment can *really* act (Jude Law is excellent as always)!
the long answer...?
this is not your usual Spielberg movie. he knows how to manipulate
the viewer's emotions, and he's pulled out all the stops with this
tale of a robot boy who wants to become a 'real boy'.
but, this film is much darker than E.T. or Close Encounters of the
Third Kind.
since this movie began as a Kubrick project (Kubrick corresponded
with Spielberg during the project's germination, and after running
into his own problems with the idea, suggested to Spielberg that
Spielberg direct the film), i expected to see Kubrick's hand in the
film. and it is there. Kubrick's style was to keep the viewer at a
distance, and Spielberg does the same thing in many scenes,
although he continues to manipulate the viewer's emotions to get
the viewer to empathize with Osment's character.
loosely based on Brian Aldiss' short story Super Toys Last All
Summer Long, A.I. takes a great deal from Pinocchio (not the
Disney Pinocchio), to the extent of sending the Osment character
on a quest to find the Blue Fairy who will make him into a real boy.
but it's Pinocchio with a twist (which i will leave un-explained,
although most of the film reviews i've read leave no plot twist
unentangled or story stone unturned).
should you see it?
i think so (especially as so many other films already released, well
to put it mildly, SUCK! ask me about Pearl Harbor sometime.) the
effects are well done, as is the score and the actors playing robots
are amazing (if Osment can act this well now, i expect that he may
become one of the great film actors of all time.) the pacing bogs
down a bit here and there, and i believe that the editing could have
been better.
its not exactly a Spielberg film, and it isn't a Kubrick film. maybe
it's a Spielbrick film. but do go see it.
feel free to disagree.
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one thing about Spielberg that drives me nuts, is his habit of hitting
us over the head to make a point. while in A.I. he seems more
restrained, more willing to let the viewer discover things for himself,
he does telegraph what i believe is one of his central points.
at the beginning, William Hurt is explaining his new project: the
construction of a child robot (or 'mecha') that will give a parent total
affection and love once that has been triggered. a colleague asks
Hurt what responsiblity does a human who has programmed the
robot child to love him or her, have to the robot? Hurt does not
answer, and the colleague says i guess that's a moral question.
there, right at the start Spielberg is telling us to think about this as
we watch the movie.
goodnight and good luck
john
