Starring Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Jude Law, Brendan Gleesan, William Hurt, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Ashley Scott, voice of Robin Williams. Narration by Ben Kingsley. Written and Directed by Steven Spielberg. Somewhere in the future, mankind has developed the technology to create mechanical robots that are amazingly lifelike. But as yet, "mechas" do not have feelings. They are willing slaves to serve mankind's needs, including sex. But Professor Hobby (Hurt) is perfecting a new mecha that will be programmed with feelings - a young boy David (Osment) designed for parents who cannot have children or have a lost a child. A company man Henry (Robards) and his wife Monica (O'Connor) have a son Martin (Thomas) in a coma that he is unlikely to awake from. Henry brings home David to help Monica get on with her life. At first she is reluctant to allow anything to try and replace Martin, but she eventually accepts David. Soon after, Martin does awake and when he gets home, Martin soon becomes jealous of David. Eventually Monica is forced to give up David, and reluctantly does so. But instead of having him destroyed, he lets him go free, where he meets Gigalo Joe (Law), a mecha male prostitute on the run. After escaping "Flesh Fair" where mechas are destroyed for sport, they go on a quest for the blue fairy, which David heard about when Monica read him the story of Pinocchio, where the blue fairy made Pinocchio into a real boy. David hopes that Monica will love him and take him back when he becomes a real boy. Based on a 1969 short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by British writer Brian Aldiss, Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick had been secretly faxing each other about making it into a movie for over a decade. Because Kubrick takes so long to complete a film, he felt a real boy would age too much, so he reportedly refused to start making the movie until the technology was available to create a "believable" robot boy. Kubrick at one point suggested that Spielberg direct to apply a more sentimental touch, and he would produce it. Spielberg declined at the time, but after Kubrick's death Spielberg assumed the project and made it his own. But a lot of Kubrick is still in the film, with his cold, clinical style mixed with Spielberg's sense of wonder and feeling. The movie seems to end twice, the first being a fable-like, coldly tragic ending like Kubrick would do, and the second traditionally Spielberg with an emotional dream of wish fulfillment. The result is uneven, with touches of amazing effects and warmth, and often maddening lapses in story as it tries to get from one idea to the next. Kind of like Eyes Wide Shut, but without the sex. Artificial Intelligence is essentially a retelling of Pinocchio, where the mechanical boy wishes to become human, in this case so that his mother will love him as she loves her own son. But added is an examination of the uneasy co-existence of humans and machines when the machines become so sophisticated that they can imitate human emotions and perform some human functions better than humans. The film looks at what it means to be human, and at what constitutes love. The good parts include the a combination Las Vegas and Bladerunner like red-light district where humans come to have their needs served by always cheerful, always capable mechas. Also impressive is the Mad Max like "Flesh Fair" where a blood-thirsty human audience relishes the chance to see mechas tortured by cannon, battery acid and other gruesome techniques as their human revenge on beings that never age and often successfully blend in with real humans. Watch for who ironically turns out to be a mecha who has successfully blended in. An animated supertoy, Teddy is done wonderfully, and successfully conveys as much feeling as his human costars. My favourite part is future New York City amazingly conveyed in an imaginative and interesting (albeit unexplained) way. The brutal parts include David's blood-curdling laughing one night at the dinner table, and the ridiculous reaction of his parent's to treat it as a warm and fuzzy bonding experience. The contrived way in which David is deemed unsafe to live with the family and painfully overwrought (and we know unnecessary) scene where he is abandonned is equally touching and sickening. The contrived way in which David and Joe eventually are manipulated to meet Professor Hobby so he can make a speech, and how when Hobby finds David, he soon leaves David on his own is, well, unbelievable. The performances of two key characters are first-rate, as are several others in support. Osment proves The Sixth Sense was no fluke, delivering a nuanced and often moving performance. Law delivers style and charm as the programmed pleasure-provider content with his place in the world. O'Connor is also an asset. The movie is worth seeing just to see how the two director's styles merge, and because there are a lot of interesting things going on, sufficient to overlook its weaknesses. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page