Robot and Frank = Abort Fond Rank [Robot & Frank (2012)]

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

Frank Weld used to be a burglar.  He’s what’s called a second-story man.  (Basically, he’d try to gain entry using unconventional means, like through a second-story window.)  He’s retired now and somewhat forgetful.  He can remember where he lives, but seems to forget that a favorite restaurant of his closed and is now a beauty shop.  His son, Hunter, visits every week, but is worried about him.  Enter, Robot, an unnamed robot that’s meant to serve as Frank’s personal assistant.

Yes, robots are usually given names, but Frank is understandably upset about his gift.  He doesn’t want this machine telling him what to eat, when to wake up and how to spend his free time.  This changes when Frank realizes that Robot knows the law, but doesn’t understand it.  He can define breaking and entering, but doesn’t realize that he’s not supposed to do it.  This means that Frank can use Robot to break into a library and steal a book.

You wouldn’t think that a book would be worth stealing, even if it is an antique copy of Don Quixote, but the library is being made into a community center.  (The movie is set in the near future; books have become obsolete.)  He wants to steal it to impress the librarian, Jennifer.  Frank and Robot go on to burglarize the home of a pretentious developer and his wife.  This draws the attention of the police, mostly because the developer doesn’t seem to like Frank.  It’s up to Frank and Robot to do what they can to foil the police.

When I saw the page for the movie on Netflix, I figured it was one of these odd-couple buddy-type movies where the two grow closer to each other, or at least Frank comes to accept the robot.  Robot points out several times that he’s really the sum of his programming.  Anything else is in service to his primary directive of keeping Frank healthy.  (This leads to a dilemma: Does Frank wipe Robot’s memory or risk getting caught?)

There’s also the issue of worrying about a parent that has deteriorating health.  Frank’s memory is going.  Hunter doesn’t like the prospect of leaving his father home alone, but the alternative is a ‘brain center’, which is basically a nice way of saying nursing home for people with mental issues.  The solution is Robot, but even that has issues.  Frank’s daughter, Madison, has moral objections to having robotic help.

I found the premise to be very interesting.  It’s a problem that we’ve all had to worry about if we have older relatives, making the story relatable.  Frank’s memory loss isn’t to the point where he’s a joke.  It’s not a string of forgetful-old-man jokes.  Also, the robot does seem to mimic human behavior quite well, to the point that you can accept it as a character.  When Frank leans back against a wall to avoid being seen, Robot does the same.  It also has the ability to learn what Frank likes and is even able to negotiate.  Robot is aware that Frank may be caught and sent to prison, but is also aware that his cognitive health is getting better now that he has purpose.

There’s also not a lot of futuristic stuff.  Frank lives in a normal house with some moderately advanced technology.  (He has a flat-screen TV with the ability to have a video conference.  Cell phones look like transparent iPhones.)  It doesn’t try to oversell us on the futuristic stuff.  The two recurring reminders of that are the presence of the robot and the looming absence of the library.

I think most of all, it’s a simple story.  If you’re looking for something without a lot going on or things you might miss, this is a good movie to watch.  I’d like to get a friend or relative to watch this only because I’d like to talk about it with someone.  There are aspects of the ending that might leave you wondering. 

IMDb page

Official Site (Japan)

'Robot & Frank' Trailer HD

Cherry 2000 (1987)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

 

Warning:  I’m going to give out major details about this movie, including the ending.  If you don’t like spoilers, this isn’t a good review to read before seeing the movie.

In my review of Dune, I started by saying that there were three kinds of movies.  You have movies that are easy to understand, movies that require some explanation, and those where no amount of explanation will help.  This is the third kind of movie.

The movie starts off with a man and what appears to be a woman.   They’re having dinner, although she’s not eating.  After dinner, it turns into a Viagra commercial with the two of them getting busy on the kitchen floor.  I don’t know if it’s carelessness or if the dishwasher is jealous, but the dishwasher overflows and shorts out the woman.  Yes, she’s a sexbot known as the Cherry 2000.

The man’s name is Sam Treadwell.  He takes the Cherry 2000 in to be repaired, but that’s an impossibility.  They haven’t made that model in quite a while, so getting parts is out of the question.  Even replacing her outright is going to be difficult.  On the mechanic’s advice, Sam takes her memory chip and sets off to find a tracker.  The tracker should be able to take him in to The Zone to find an abandoned sexbot factory.

Sam finds and hires Edith Johnson, played by Melanie Griffith.  They have to travel a great distance into The Zone, which is inhabited by lawless hooligans that will shoot at you if you come into their territory.  (No one ever said that getting to or inside the warehouse was going to be easy.)   Edith hooks up with Six-Fingered Jake, who happens to be Edith’s uncle or father or something.  He was said to be dead, but he really just wanted out of the business.  He’s now in to selling toasters.

When they set off to find the factory, they’re attacked.  Sam is taken by the group of local crazies led by Lester.  Sam is told that Edith and Jake are dead, but they were able to tow Edith’s car in.  Sam’s ex, Ginger, is there.  (You don’t understand… She changed her name.  Don’t worry; I don’t understand, either.)  The locals live in what appears to be an abandoned motel or something.  Another thing:  Lester apparently really hates trackers.  He hates them so much that when he discovers that they have one among them, he puts the tracker up against a wall and shoots him with an arrow.

The big form of entertainment with them is the Hokey Pokey.  I have no idea why they do this.  Maybe this was the Most Annoying Song in the World before the Macarena became popular.  I guess that really is what it’s all about.  The group allows Sam to stay, but Sam doesn’t want to stay.  He wants his beloved Cherry back.  Lester mentions having several units, but lacks the chip to make them work.  I don’t know if he’s serious or if he’s just testing Sam.  Either way, Sam decides to torch the place and run when he discovers that Edith and Jake aren’t really dead.

Before they can get to the factory, they meet up with some old friends of Jake and Edith.  Like many old friends in a dystopian future, one of them sells the trio out to Lester, who’s now really out for blood.  Sam and Edith are able to escape by plane, but poor Jake is shot in the back.

Sam and Edith finally find the factory.  Somehow, Edith knows exactly where the factory is, how to get into the factory and where in the factory the sexbots are kept.  It takes a few minutes for Sam to find the exact model he needs.  This is just enough time for Lester and his cronies to show up.  Oh, and Ginger is there, too.  She brought sandwiches.

Sam finds the correct model, inserts the memory chip and is happy to see his Cherry returned to him as if nothing happened.  As they escape, Sam begins to realize what a ditz the Cherry 2000 is.  He thought he knew what love was, but would rather have Edith.  Sam starts to leave with Cherry, but comes back for Edith so that they can ride off into the sunset together.

This is one of those movies that you’ll be left wondering what the f__k just happened, even if you’re paying attention.  I’m really wondering if the writers were using LSD.  The Hokey Pokey scene is just so strange that they had to be on something.

Also, sex is apparently heavily litigated.  When you go into a bar for casual sex, you apparently need a contract and a lawyer to look it over.  (Look out for Laurence Fishburne in this scene.  If you blink, you’ll miss him.)  I’ve heard of being screwed over by lawyers, but this is a bit extreme. The fact that you’d need an oral clause should tell you something.  Between this and Ginger, I can see why Sam is dead set on finding a new Cherry 2000.

It always bothers me when a piece of well-crafted machinery breaks down so easily.  You have a female-looking robot who I’m assuming was made to resemble a woman in every detail.  The Cherry 2000 was supposed to be very good -- they just don’t make them like that any more.  So, why is it that she was done in by soapy water?  Even if this were a possibility, why would someone who loves said robot be so careless as to ignore the dishwasher?  You’d think that Sam would realize that Cherry’s about to bite the dust and do something to save her.  I know that this is why we have a movie in the first place, but he could have made an effort.

Speaking of reasons why we have a movie, why is it that the item in question is always so hard to get?  Either it’s in a remote part of the country that has roving bands of rabid idiots or it’s heavily guarded in Fort Knox.  If it seems easy, that’s because the target item isn’t really there.  It was moved someplace or destroyed.  It’s never that easy.

This is a hard movie to recommend.  It’s not at all good.  It looked to me like the producers had to remove entire scenes to make the movie come in under time and/or budget, giving it a rushed and disjointed feeling.  However, it’s not so bad that I’d recommend watching it to see how bad it is.  Yes, it’s listed on badmovies.org.  Yes, it deserves to be listed there.  I’m just not sure I can recommend wasting your time on it.  This truly is a movie that will leave you wondering why.

IMDb page

Cherry 2000 Trailer (1987)

RoboCop (2014)

Note:  This review reveals major details about the movie.  If you haven’t seen the movie and don‘t want spoilers, you may want to wait before reading this review.  (There shouldn’t be many surprises, though, if you’ve seen the 1987 version.)


Remakes are a tricky business.  You’re basically using someone else’s idea and trying to make money off of it.  Yes, there’s safety in knowing that it’s already worked.  However, I’ve never really liked remakes because I always end up comparing it to the original, assuming I had seen the original first.  Total Recall is a perfect example of this.  The 2012 remake is looks nicer, but I would recommend the 1990 version any day.

Likewise, in 1987 we had a movie about a police officer named Alex Murphy who was killed on the job.  OmniCorp got the remains and remade him into RoboCop.  They needed a great new product and they could do whatever they wanted, as they ran the Detroit Police Department and Murphy was legally dead.  In 2014, a new version was made.  Replacing Peter Weller was Murphy was Joel Kinnaman.  I knew I was going to want to hate the remake, but I had to give it a fair shot.

The story is basically the same.  Police Officer Alex Murphy is trying to take down criminals.  When he crosses the wrong one, said criminal attempts to have Murphy killed.  Murphy lives, but just barely.  OmniCorp steps in and offers Mrs. Murphy the opportunity to have her husband remade into RoboCop.  She reluctantly agrees.

RoboCop also has his detractors, most of them criminals.  There are also politicians rallying against drones.  This is what necessitates Murphy’s involvement.  Most voters object to the use of drones on American soil.  However, a human in control of a robot isn’t so objectionable.

RoboCop takes a lot of work and a few unethical choices, but is initially a success.  When RoboCop is first introduced to the public, Clara knows something is wrong with her husband.  He doesn’t respond to her or their son.  However, he is able to apprehend a criminal who’s standing right next to two of Detroit’s finest.  RoboCop also doesn’t bother with briefings; he just goes out and gets the bad guys.

This comes at a cost.  As I said, there are ethical choices to be made.  Dr. Dennett Norton, who is leading the project, has to tinker with Murphy’s emotions.  He has to adjust Murphy’s physiology.  It’s not something he’s comfortable with, but the alternative is failure.  Murphy becomes unstable at certain points.  If RoboCop is to work and Murphy is to live, regrettable decisions will have to be made.

After being put into service, Murphy begins to reemerge.  One of the big problems is being given access to information on his own attempted murder.  He’s programmed not to react emotionally, but eventually goes after those that would have killed him.  In the end, Murphy gets the people that he’s after.

If you’ve seen the original movie, you will probably see most of the movie coming.  As I said, the basic details are the same.  Murphy is killed and comes back for revenge.  His final obstacle is not being able to hurt OmniCorp employees.  (Each movie resolves this differently.)  The movie deals with what it means to have free will.  Do we have it or is it an illusion?

We even get a few of the iconic lines repeated which is nice.  However, there are a lot of differences that fans of the original will notice.  There seemed to be more focus on Murphy.  The original had more focus on OmniCorp and the politics of getting RoboCop made.  Here, we get to see more of Murphy in action.  Speaking of which, Murphy’s memories weren’t wipe, as in the original.

This presented its own set of challenges, like getting Murphy to cooperate.  It also puts an entirely new spin on the movie.  Murphy is ‘erased’ more slowly.  He does make the same comeback, but he’s treated more as a human.  In the original, his family had left Detroit.  Here, he can visit them and even has his wife fighting for him.  It’s almost as if we’re dealing with two different movies.  (Interestingly, this version makes no mention of Detroit’s current bankruptcy.  I thought it was odd how the original seemed to call this.)

I wasn’t liking the movie too much for the first hour or so, but I have to admit that it is a decent movie in its own right.  I’m not saying that I love it or that I like it better than the original, but it is worth watching.


OmniCorp Web site