Dog Run Pictures, Park Pictures, TBB,
Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Sisto
Frank (Frank Langella) lives alone out in the country. He’s an ex-jewel thief/cat burglar who’s way past his prime. He’s gotten old, and the memory is failing, and his hands are shaky, and his attitude has turned rather snarly. His daughter, Madison (Liv Tyler), travels the world for her work and never comes to see him, and his wife divorced him a long time ago. His son, Hunter (James Marsden) is married, has a family, but makes the weekly drive out to visit his Dad, just to see how he’s getting along, but it’s never pleasant for either of them. Frank refuses to go to the home, and so Frank comes up with a plan. It’s the near future, and Frank gives him a robot to take care of him, make sure he’s eating healthy, getting exercise, and doing all the right things. Frank hates the idea, and Madison is a member of a protest group against non-human slavery and doesn’t approve of a robot, but when Frank finds out the robot was not programmed with a sense of right and wrong, and that he is very adept at picking locks and stealing loot, Frank decides he likes the robot a lot. But as his health deteriorates, and trouble abounds at every turn, he has to take a look at how he’s going to survive his last years.
This is a little movie that has a awful lot going for it. It’s clever, very engaging, and filled with good performances. Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon play well off each other as a crotchety old relic of the past, and an obsolete librarian who is relegated to caretaker of a library museum, for the most part. James Marsden and Liv Tyler, as the grown children are also very good in their roles. They add a lot of spice to the plot. Peter Sarsgaard, as the voice of the robot who Frank refuses to name, is also adds a lot to the film. The robot is a very strong character, and his motives and intentions are very well defined. All in all, this was a very surprising little film that is one of the hidden gems that nobody has heard of, but is a pretty decent little film. I found myself intrigued by the story, even if the ending kind of let me down, the entire story was very good and I found myself very attentive and sad when it was over. This is a short film, a bit under and hour and half, but it is very good storytelling, and one of those forgotten films that you ought to give a chance. Hopefully now that it’s out on DVD many more people will get a chance to see it. It was pretty good.
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