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A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
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Genre: |
Sci-Fi/Drama |
Director: |
Steven Spielberg |
Rating: |
PG-13 |
Running Time: |
145 Minutes |
Release Date: |
June 29, 2001 |
Official Website: |
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Movie Trailer: |
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Discuss and vote: |
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Cast: |
Haley Joel Osment
Jude Law
Frances O'Connor
Sam Robards
Jake Thomas
Brendan Gleeson
William Hurt
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Pickup Line: A genuine classic!
Quickie: A child robot, the first of its kind to be programmed to love, tries to find love, and his place in the world. Sob!
The Long Review:
Put Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg together and you get nothing short of a masterpiece. That's exactly what "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" is. Set in the distant future where robots have become part of society, it tells the touching story of David (Haley Joel Osment), the first child robot, and the first-ever robot programmed to love. When things don't exactly work out with his human family, he is forced to embark on a poignant journey in search of the Blue Fairy, whom he believes can make him "a real boy" ala Pinocchio. "How does he know about the Blue Fairy?" you wonder. Well, before things turned sour, his adoptive mother, Monica (Frances O'Connor) would read him bedtime stories, and "Pinocchio" was one of them. Why does he want to be a real boy?" you wonder again. Well, he believes that if we were to become a real boy, his adoptive mother would feel real love for him. Awww…Just break our already weeping hearts with a sledgehammer, why don't you?!
"A.I." is a movie that presents a provocative idea packaged in a truly touching tale. Haley Joel Osment is in his element as he plays an unblinking (We swear to God!) robot or "mecha", who simply wants to be loved. This kid knows how to pick the brain and tug at those heartstrings, we tell ya! And Jude Law once again brings out his acting chops as he plays Gigolo Joe, a love mecha (translation: a programmed man-whore). Combine this great acting with an enthralling plot and awesome special effects, and you've got yourself a classic. This movie brings up so many relevant issues, it's actually not a bad idea to see it again just to make sure you catch all of them. All we can say is that it makes you think. Not many movies can make the same claim nowadays. If we do have one complaint about this film, it is its length. This movie is long. Some may argue that the length is necessary for the movie to express everything it wants to, for it to have proper closure. The rest will just say that it's too damn long. But hey, it's good.
And what does Roger Ebert have to say? "'A.I.' is audacious, technically masterful, challenging, sometimes moving, ceaselessly watchable. What holds it back from greatness is a failure to really engage the ideas that it introduces. The movie's conclusion is too facile and sentimental, given what has gone before. It has mastered the artificial, but not the intelligence." And what do we have to say? We wouldn't have had it any other way.
In Two Minutes:
Did you know?
- Haley Joel Osment got pad $2 million to star in this movie. Hey, for that kind of money, we'd forego blinking altogether, too!
- Stanley Kubrick worked on "A.I." for 15 years, after which he passed the project on to Steven Spielberg. This just proves that masterpieces take a long time to make.
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