Film: Robot & Frank

Director: Jake Schreier
Genre: Comedy
Source: USA (2012)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Netflix Instant Watch
Grade: B+

There's a lot of sweetness to Robot & Frank, and at times I thought it would get a little too sentimental. Instead, thanks to Frank Langella's stand-out performance as the titular Frank, the film finds a sweet spot between bitterness and tenderness. The relationship Frank develops with the robot--voiced in deadpan fashion by Peter Sarsgaard, is both quirky and relatable. Much the same way lonely pet owners ascribe consciousness and personality to their naive animal companions, so too does Frank grow from aloofness to heartfelt friendship for his programmable friend. Add to that the heist plans--and the inherent comedy of seeing a robot in a jacket--and you've got something to sink your teeth into here.

Beyond those crowd pleasing elements, though, Robot & Frank has something meaningful to say about memory and dementia, and to anyone who has lost a relative to battles with Alzheimer's or memory loss, the film has even greater resonance. Does the loss of memory, it asks, invalidate the experience? Or is there still value and meaning in what we have forgotten? The film doesn't claim to have all the answers, but it does provide with some nice fodder.

Not everything works. Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, and James Marsden all acquit themselves nicely, but Liv Tyler seems to be just playing Liv Tyler, and Jeremy Strong (as obnoxious hipster neighbor Jake) feels too much like a cartoon character to fit in the film's world. 

Still, it's a nice piece of science fiction that seems to favor character development and emotional resonance over whiz-bang technology, and that's a nice thing to see. If this is what the future of robots has in store, I'm all for it.