Why I Bought It

Spoilers for A.I. Artificial Intelligence to follow.

A.I. started its life as a Stanley Kubrick picture and ended it as a Steven Spielberg one after Kubrick’s passing. The end product is a flawed yet endlessly fascinating film that can’t quite live up to the pairing of two of the most revered directors of all time.

The film is set in a future where highly advanced robots, or mechas as they are referred to in the film, are part of every day life. They look, act and talk just like humans. They even have censors that allow them to react to pain for that extra dose of human quality. But then mecha creator Professor Hobby, played by William Hurt, asks “What if a mecha could love?” His colleague kindly responds with another question, “Are humans able to love mechas?”

Next we see that Hobby has created David, played by Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense), a mecha who, after you implement the seven word activation code, begins to love you unconditionally. Prof. Hobby gifts David to an employee at his company whose own son is in cryostasis due to an incurable illness. They are warned not to implement the activation code unless they are 100% sure they want David to be part of the family, because if he is activated and they decide they don’t want him anymore, the only option is to have him destroyed.

Spielberg films David’s introduction to his new family almost like a horror film. One shot in particular has David’s mother shutting a door on him, but the camera stays on David, now a distorted image thanks to the glass on the door. It’s a legitimately creepy shot that sets an unnerving tone. Osment’s performance also does a lot of heavy lifting here as an emotionless robot boy.

Eventually, the family activates David and Osment really beings to shine. This little dude goes human on a dime, immediately loving his new Mother with every ounce of his newborn soul, and a family is reborn before our very eyes.

Of course, it doesn’t last, as the couple’s real life son comes out of cryostasis and the two boys begin to compete for their Mother’s affection. And this is where the movie really gets dark. After being abandoned by his Mother in the woods, David goes on a desperate journey to find the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio so that she can turn him into a real boy so his Mother will love him again. Along the way he befriends a mecha gigolo played by Jude Law, escapes from a hillbilly circus that specializes in torturing and killing mechas, and gets frozen for 2000 years until advanced A.I. thaw him out and tell him his Mom is dead.

Yikes.

Look, considering this whole movie sprung from the mind of Stanley Kubrick it really shouldn’t be surprising that it’s not a straight forward fairy tale with a happy ending, even with Spielbergs involvement. Also, that last paragraph is obviously an oversimplification of how this movie plays out, but it’s also true. A.I. is a wild movie. We get a decent amount of time hanging with Jude Law’s character, named Gigolo Joe, and his presence means we get to see a Spielberg version of a cyberpunk future. One scene in particular shows off a Las Vegas-type town filled with detailed buildings shaped like women. It’s quite a sight, especially coming from Spielberg.

Unfortunately, even with strong performances, excellent practical effects throughout and thought provoking ideas, A.I. just can’t quite come together successfully. That’s not to say it’s not a good movie per se; Osment is incredible as David, especially as his journey takes him on a darker route throughout (he even tries to commit suicide at one point!) and Spielberg manages to get the audience to care about this mecha as only he can. And while there is genuine emotion to be felt throughout the film, there is still a disconnect there, keeping me from really giving myself over to it, like with E.T. I think it comes down to the fact that Spielberg is simply too nice to tackle Kubrick’s material. And yes, I know the ending has David essentially choose to spend the rest of time lying next to a dying clone of his already dead mother. It’s definitely one of the darkest endings the director has ever done. But in the end the movie just doesn’t fully come together.

So why the hell did I buy this movie?

Well, I bought this film because even though Spielberg doesn’t 100% succeed in blending his voice with Kubrick’s, it’s absolutely fascinating to watch him try. Spielberg really swings for the fences here, and it’s a joy to watch a filmmaker of his caliber take a chance like this, especially if it doesn’t fully work. Makes it all the more interesting in my opinion.

Besides, even the “bad” Spielberg movies are better and more interesting than 90% of everything else.