it is easy to see why the late stanley kubrick believed steven spielberg would be the perfect director for his a . i .
artificial intelligence , just as it is understandable why spielberg was attracted to the material .
for here we have another lost boy trying to find his way home , an outcast seeking family , themes very familiar from most of spielberg’s body of work from sugarland express to close encounters of the third kind to e . t .
to empire of the sun to hook to saving private ryan , naming just a few examples .
a . i . is set in an undefined near future in which giant technological advances have led to the creation of robots who serve every purpose from housekeeping to fulfilling sexual fantasies .
it is an era when robots are treated merely as sophisticated appliances .
the last great leap in robotic evolution is the addition of emotions , and with the number of births limited by the government , many couples are yearning for children .
and professor hobby ( william hurt ) has the solution .
a robotic boy named david ( haley joel osment ) , who is programmed to love .
as a test , david is placed with henry swinton ( sam robards ) and his wife , monica ( frances o’connor ) .
their natural-born son has been cryogenically frozen until a cure can be found for his illness .
the first third of a . i .
deals with david’s life with the swintons and how that is changed by the recovery and return of their son , martin .
circumstances force david to be cut off from the swintons .
he is abandoned and alone .
david , highly influenced by the fairy tale , pinocchio , feels that if he becomes a real boy he can rekindle monica’s love for him .
the film’s second act follows david’s search for the blue fairy , whom he believes will be able to fulfill his wish .
during these adventures he meets and is helped by gigolo joe ( jude law ) , a robot who specializes in sex .
spielberg is at his top form in this sequence , offering a brutal ” flesh fair ” where robots are destroyed via sadistic methods for the amusement of paying customers .
here , is where kubrick’s influence is strongly felt , as the movie explores the fear and distrust humans have for robots .
the savagery conjures up images from the late director’s a clockwork orange .
at about two hours and 30 minutes , the film begins to falter during the last 20 minutes , a sequence that seems most spielbergian with images that appear to be borrowed from close encounters .
it is all very anti-climatic and jarring .
these scenes seem almost superfluous , as if from a different film .
a . i . is a dark fairy tale that deserves its pg-13 rating .
it is a story combining hope and intolerance , sacrifice and bigotry , and while it does not coalesce perfectly , the movie does offer some disturbing images .
but a . i .
is really a showcase for the acting talents of the amazing young osment .
if ever an actor deserved an academy award nomination , it is this lad , who brings a sense of joy and wonder to the role of david , a being created for the express purpose of loving .
he shines when with monica , beaming with love , as eager as a puppy to please .
after being left in the woods , he is confused , lost , hurt , focusing on one objective : to become a real boy and find his way home so he can redeem himself in his mother’s eyes .
law is pleasant as the care-free robot who really doesn’t understand david’s quest , but is nonetheless happy to help him on his journey .
probably the toughest role is o’connor’s monica .
playing an emotional fragile woman who sees david as a substitute for her lost martin , she grows conflicted after her boy returns and she begins to perceive david not as a second chance , but as a threat to her family .
she gives her character enough emotional chaos that you cannot fault her for her course of action .
many of a . i . ‘s futuristic sets are breathtaking , especially a mostly submerged new york , lost to the world by the melting of the polar ice caps .
a . i . is a flawed film , and you cannot get through the entire feature without pondering – even subconsciously – how it would have turned out with kubrick instead of spielberg behind the camera .
would it have been darker ?
more cynical ?
we will never know .
we can only judge what is before us on the screen , a collaboration of two cinematic giants .
a . i .
is a most interesting and thought-provoking examination of a future that is quickly gaining on us .