A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
I don’t know who came up with the idea to make this movie—okay, I do: Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick—but if I could choose one movie that should never have been made, it just might be A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It is one of the saddest films I’ve ever seen, and when my family went enthusiastically to see it in the theaters upon its release, we all ended up in a gigantic puddle of tears. Please, even if you live off of science fiction films, stay away from this one.
Haley Joel Osment, one of the most talented child actors in existence, stars as a robotic child. Set in a futuristic world in which several major cities have been swallowed up by the aftermaths of global warming, robots are now readily available and blend in pretty well with the rest of society. Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards adopt Haley because their human son is on the brink of death. While he falls in love with his family, they don’t feel the same way, especially when their real son recovers from his illness and rejoins the family. As a robot, Haley feels real emotions, but sometimes doesn’t understand the reason behind them. In one scene, he overhears Sam telling Frances she smells good, so Haley drenches himself in an entire bottle of her perfume in order to gain Sam’s love. In another, he’s sitting at the table during dinner—which he can’t partake of because he’s a robot—and he tries to eat so he doesn’t feel so isolated from the family. Those are only two of countless heartbreaking scenes in the film.
I can’t imagine any mother making it through this movie in one piece, and if you were thinking of letting your children watch it, think again. Frances ends up dropping Haley off in the middle of the woods and abandoning him with nothing but his mechanical teddy bear for comfort. Even now, sixteen years later, that scene is vivid in my mind, and I wish as fervently as I did then that I’d never seen this movie.
There is only one good element in the movie: Jude Law. He plays a male prostitute robot, and his performance is excellent. Haley Joel Osment is wonderful as well, and it’s mind-boggling to see such talent at a young age, but it’s also frustrating to watch—his parents allowed him to act in such an upsetting film, and that takes some of the joy out of watching his talent. But back to Jude Law: if you’ve never seen him before, you might think that he wasn’t a real actor. He’s so convincing in his movements, expressions, and delivery that it seems like he’s a computer-generated character. If the movie wasn’t so horrendously disturbing, it might be worth watching for his performance.
Kiddy warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to extremely upsetting scenes involving children, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Jude Law movies here!
More Meryl Streep movies here!
Haley Joel Osment, one of the most talented child actors in existence, stars as a robotic child. Set in a futuristic world in which several major cities have been swallowed up by the aftermaths of global warming, robots are now readily available and blend in pretty well with the rest of society. Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards adopt Haley because their human son is on the brink of death. While he falls in love with his family, they don’t feel the same way, especially when their real son recovers from his illness and rejoins the family. As a robot, Haley feels real emotions, but sometimes doesn’t understand the reason behind them. In one scene, he overhears Sam telling Frances she smells good, so Haley drenches himself in an entire bottle of her perfume in order to gain Sam’s love. In another, he’s sitting at the table during dinner—which he can’t partake of because he’s a robot—and he tries to eat so he doesn’t feel so isolated from the family. Those are only two of countless heartbreaking scenes in the film.
I can’t imagine any mother making it through this movie in one piece, and if you were thinking of letting your children watch it, think again. Frances ends up dropping Haley off in the middle of the woods and abandoning him with nothing but his mechanical teddy bear for comfort. Even now, sixteen years later, that scene is vivid in my mind, and I wish as fervently as I did then that I’d never seen this movie.
There is only one good element in the movie: Jude Law. He plays a male prostitute robot, and his performance is excellent. Haley Joel Osment is wonderful as well, and it’s mind-boggling to see such talent at a young age, but it’s also frustrating to watch—his parents allowed him to act in such an upsetting film, and that takes some of the joy out of watching his talent. But back to Jude Law: if you’ve never seen him before, you might think that he wasn’t a real actor. He’s so convincing in his movements, expressions, and delivery that it seems like he’s a computer-generated character. If the movie wasn’t so horrendously disturbing, it might be worth watching for his performance.
Kiddy warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to extremely upsetting scenes involving children, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Jude Law movies here!
More Meryl Streep movies here!