Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageA.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
David (Osment) is a Mecha-boy, a robot prototype who thinks and feels like a real boy. Monica and Henry (O'Connor and Robards), whose natural son is in a vegetative state, afford him a wary welcome, the mother's need overcoming her trepidation. Then, when their own son makes a miraculous recovery, sibling rivalry gets out of hand, and Monica abandons the surrogate in the woods to fend for himself. A schizophrenic animal, Kubrick and Spielberg's love child begins in cerebral sci-fi mode before switching abruptly into a heart-rending fairytale redolent of E.T., The Wizard of Oz and especially Pinocchio. Spielberg adopted the project and, whatever Kubrick's input may have been, took sole screenplay credit for the first time since Close Encounters. The result is surprisingly clumsy and ill-integrated. Yet A.I. is ambitious, personal and revealing. A film about childhood as opposed to a film for kids, it has more than its share of beauty, wonders and mysteries. The SFX are miraculous; Osment and O'Connor scarcely less so. At heart it's a terribly anguished expression of rejection, loneliness and love. If only it knew when to stop.Author: TCh
User reviews of this film
-
- Louise said...
- Posted on Sep 06 2008 16:58 Profound film about the enduring power of love
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Kees said...
- Posted on Feb 07 2008 20:47 I especially like the end of the movie when te robot child sinks and is found thousends of years later and he can spend some time with his long deceased mother. It's a great movie!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Bonnie Curtis
Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Jude Law, William Hurt, Ken Leung, Theo Greenly, Ashley Scott, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Shamus Wiles, Clara Bellar full cast
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Duration: 146 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now