Robot & Frank

I didn't expect much. Frank Langella is a great old actor, but I don't really like him much. Same for Susan Sarandon. Then it is an indie film, something that just a few people would see in a limited release. So I hoped for something slightly funny, maybe with crazy people that try to seem deep, that kind of stuff. Well, I was mistaken on all counts!

Frank Langella played beautifully his role of an amnesic old man helped by a caretaker robot to plan and execute heists. His son and daughter have minimal roles, as well as most other actors. Susan Sarandon's important role is revealed towards the end. All actors play very well, though the gem of this movie is the story and the little details in the script. Finally I can say that I saw a movie with a fantastic script and am naturally puzzled how this kind of film gets a limited release.

Bottom line: a comedic drama which explores the depth of soul, while taking us through a story that is both original and very well written and executed. The Keystone cops type of thing at the end blew it a little for me, but the rest is top notch and the film is definitely worth the watch.

I enjoyed "Robot & Frank", though I am not quite sure why I've seen it referred to as a comedy or a 'buddy comedy'. It's actually a rather serious and ultimately depressing film--but one that is highly original.

Frank Langella stars as an aging man who is slipping mentally and physically. Exasperated, his son decides to do something to free him from having to worry about his father--buy him a helper robot that will keep an eye on him and care for him. However, Langella's memory is spotty--and the very larcenous part of his past is still alive and kicking. And, he's hoping that the robot might help him on his next caper.

The film is a bit hard to rate. I was stuck between a 7 and an 8. It is super-original and fresh but also a bit of a downer--particularly towards the end. It's nice to see some very good acting but I wish the film was a bit more fulfilling. What did you think? Did you also find it a tad unsatisfying when all was said and done. Good--very good. But also not exactly an enjoyable film.

It's hard to fault this movie. Literally. I was going to rate it as an 8, but I have to give it a 9 because I can't think of anything about it to criticise.

The plot is rather simple. Frank is a confused older man who is finding it difficult to take care of himself. He is given a robot medical assistant who is programmed to do only one thing: help Frank. Frank resists mightily at first, but soon Frank improves remarkably and takes up his earlier vocation: stealing jewels. It turns out that the robot's programming does not extend to obeying the law...

This film is interesting, surprising, heart-warming, intelligent, thought-provoking, amusing, understated, well written and well directed. It delivers first-rate performances by first-rate actors.

It defies categorisation. Is it science fiction? A heist movie? A family drama? A melancholic feel-good story about aging? It has no shootouts, no car chases, no superspies, no superheros, no martial arts scenes, no demented villains. What it does have is character development, good writing and a nice story.

Kudos to Schreier, Ford, Langella and Sarandon.

Robot and Frank is a sweet and tender drama, set in what it proclaims to be "the near future," about a retired cat-burglar, responsible for several crimes that were said to rob the insurance criminals and the robot that is placed in his life as a caregiver when he becomes no longer able-bodied enough to do so. The man is Frank (Frank Langella), an ex-convict beginning to experience dementia/Alzheimer's like symptoms. His son, Hunter (James Marsden), is tired of commuting ten hours round-trip on a weekly basis to care for his father, so to assure his safety and health, he buys him a slick domestic robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard), which is programmed to help the elderly in their daily activities. The bot also promotes a rather therapeutic lifestyle, emphasizing healthy eating habits and cognitive exercises to restore and maintain brain activity. I can only hope these things become available publicly in the near future.

As expected, Frank is hesitant to use the robot, finding it useless since he sees himself as capable to take care of himself. Yet when he realizes that the robot doesn't have the conscious ability to distinguish ethical behavior from illegal behavior, Frank believes he can get back into the petty-crime business and use the robot as a lock-picking device. Their first crime involves stealing a rare antique book from the local library, which is looking to overhaul its print media format in favor of the digital age. The librarian, Jennifer (Susan Sarandon), who Frank begins to develop a small little crush on, is dismayed, but coping with the loss of print books in the world, so Frank believes that his effort to save one of the rarest books of all time will make her a bit happier.

A subplot involves Frank's daughter Madison (Liv Tyler), who works on-location in Turkmenistan, coming to visit him shortly after Hunter gives him the robot, to show that human-care is the best care of all and that robots can not provide a human with the same kind of love a human can. She possesses something of the opinion Frank held before this robot came into his life, and we wonder if she will come out changed like him.

The "near future" presented is the kind of near future that we ourselves can kind of predict, rather than it being a Jetsons-esque utopia. All cars have a "Smart Car" built towards them if the "Smart Car" was compressed and made leaner (they look like a twenty-five mile-an-hour wind can blow them over), digital media is taking over in places like libraries, phone calls are made through the TV in a Skype-like format, and the aforementioned domestic robot has become something of a standard. This is the second most favorable aspect to this film, next to the relationship Frank has with his robot. The world the film erects is pragmatic and easily-likable. It doesn't require the suspension of disbelief. It might have if this was made in the 1990's. Libraries going away? Yeah, right.

The film sweetly gives us a parable on how aging and caregiving may be changed in the next few years, with the influx of technology and the possibilities for in-home care with robots. As foreign as this sounds, it isn't far from likely. American citizens, especially the elderly, have had a terrifically tough time adapting to a world that is changing faster than many can keep up, and this film details that. We see Frank is more in-tuned with technology than many others his age, but he may be one of the lucky ones. If there's anything to take away from Robot and Frank, it's that there will be a frightening increase of new and a depressing decrease of old. Life as we know it may not be as simple as it once was - one of the downsides to technological advances.

Many of the film's ideas and actions, such as humanizing a burglar, constructing a believable world where robots have become dependable caregivers, and injecting a very small love story, all work with the gentle direction of Jake Schreier and the thoughtful, sympathetic writing by Christopher D. Ford. This is a premise that shouldn't work as well as it does, but there are many smart people in front of and behind the camera, assuring greatness with every shot. As it ended, I kind of wanted to see it again, which is a high compliment to pay to a movie.

Starring: Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, and Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by: Jake Schreier.

Robot and Frank has a lot of rich themes to it that only really came to me while i was thinking about it after-wards...the film is a lot deeper and layered with meaning and symbolism then it initially appears to be--but enough about that--is the robot awesome??? He's more cute then awesome--but he is one charming robot! In fact he kind of reminded me of the one Kevin Spacey voiced in the Sam Rockwell movie "Moon" In fact this whole movie itself--from its low key tone, to its homey set design, to its somewhat enigmatic ending reminded of that 2009 film.

Frank Langella does a great job here--he really grounds the film in reality--which is a great thing because the longer the film goes on, the more incredible and outlandish it becomes---there are some reveals that happen way too quickly throughout and aren't seemingly set up so well but thanks to the amazing chemistry that Langella and the robot develop with one another (thanks to excellent voice work by Peter Sarsgaard)--you kind of shrug your shoulders and go with it...or at least i did. (its really only later that you realize why the film's reveals had to be so quickly shoe-horned in there and that is all i will say about that.) Langella is a man showing early signs of memory loss and is clearly in the beginning of what might end up ultimately being the loss of his mental faculties, he of course doesn't think this is true--and why should he? He's keeping himself busy, his mind active, he reads a lot, he goes to the library and flirts with Susan Surandon's kinda hot Liberian a lot, he seems like he'd be a lot sharper then he does whenever he finds himself around his rather angry son. It doesn't help that he keeps stealing these carved bars of soap from a bath and body-works shop that he insists is supposed to be his favorite diner Harry's ("but dad-harry's closed down years ago" is the constant refrain from whomever langella tells that he's gonna eat at harry's..or that fact that he keeps asking his son how things are at Princeton. "dad i haven't been to Princeton in years." uh-oh) His son (played with a nice mixture of intense worry, frustration, and some good deadpan humor by James Marsden) having had enough of having to drive out to check up on his father over and over again gets him a live in robot health care professional/servant! (why its all the rage among the elderly and infirm these days!) Langella is predictably agitated by this (who wouldn't be?) but in some rather quick and amusing scenes manages to be won over by the robot---it helps that the robot helper has some awesome advantages hidden up its sleeve--such as a very tasty lasagna recipe, a memory that can be screened on a TV screen, and a nice ability to zing frank back for starters.

The film then makes a very quick--almost whip-lash inducing reveal that Frank was in fact a jewel thief/cat burglar as a young man. It then again almost too quickly gives him a perfect caper to try and pull. Susan Surandon's job is in danger of being replaced by--robot librarians...in fact the whole library's inventory of books is in danger of being replaced by kindles and technology. (goodbye book jackets and musty pages, hello sleek shiny neon colored plastic) Its the library's most valuable book (an old hardbound copy of Don Quixote) and his want to impress the librarian that finally kicks the plot into gear---Frank's gonna return to his cat burglarizing ways with the help of his trusty robot sidekick. Only problem--the robot's too good at it--the thievery causes Frank to feel young again and this leads to him wanting to go on an even bigger score. You can pretty much guess where the film goes from there--except there are many many jagged pieces here and there that don't quite fit as Frank later says while examining the loot.

The film has a great sense of tone--its perfectly deadpan and nicely low-key the whole time, never giving certain scenes more weight then they need to be. The film has some really quick but also really funny moments here and there throughout--some of which almost make the whole thing worth sitting through itself. However the film also has some almost too neat coincidences, a much too enigmatic ending that wants the viewer to decide for him/her self what it all means, and a not particularly interesting go nowhere subplot involving Liv Tyler as Frank's robot helper hating daughter (she wants to liberate the robot servers and stop making them slaves--etc, etc. she mostly exists i think to humanize frank, and make him someone who actually means a lot to someone flesh and blood so that his growing relationship to robot will be more believable--but liv tyler has so little to do in this movie, i kept wondering why she was there to begin with--i'm still wondering quite honestly...her character doesn't quite make a lot of sense but whatever) Film is very amusing, and i feel very much worth watching on the whole despite its somewhat maddening flaws--however if you're paying close attention to what's actually on screen--i think the film will either grow on you as you think about it after-wards, or will frustrate you madly--i thought it was pretty clever--but then again i also thought the robot was cute.