# Bicentennial Man (1999)

### reviewed by
Michael Elliott

Christian Critic's Movie Parables - http://www.christiancritic.com

    BICENTENNIAL MAN
    (opens December 17)
    * * out of * * * * stars
    ========================

DIRECTED BY: Chris Columbus STARRING: Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, Oliver Platt WRITTEN BY: Nicholas Kazan RATED: PG for language and some sexual content SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Job 33:4, Genesis 2:7, Acs 17:24-25

A robot/android with a positronic brain who desperately wants to know what it is to be human? Didn't we see this done (and done better) on TV's Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Director Chris Columbus and star Robin Williams, who last teamed up to bring us MRS. DOUBTFIRE, join forces again for the futuristic faux-morality tale, BICENTENNIAL MAN. Based on an Isaac Asimov story, the film begins in the year 2005 with the delivery of a household appliance to the home of Richard Martin (Sam Neill, EVENT HORIZON). This appliance is an NDR-114 robot nicknamed Andrew by Little Miss (Hallie Kate Eisenberg, THE INSIDER), the youngest member of the family. He will spend the next 200 years in an attempt to be accepted by the world as something other than a Sharper Image catalogue item.

Encouraged by the family who owns him, Andrew begins to explore various facets of humanity. Whenever he finds himself falling short of the human experience, his standard reaction is to say "That won't do" before going off to correct the defect. Over time, he develops and incorporates humor, taste, facial expressions, a central nervous system, a desire for freedom, and last but not least... a functioning male anatomical "package". He also sees his original family die and "lives" to see the generation after them die as well. His next step on the road to humanity is going to have to be his own mortality.

The 200 years pass quickly in this roughly 2½ hour long film (That's about 45 seconds per year) and yet the film itself tends to drag by, weighed down by its own pomposity. What begins as a lighthearted family romp in the comedic style of MRS. DOUBTFIRE rapidly evolves into a self-important, new-age minded movie equivalent of a warm and fuzzy group hug where the physical intimacy is forced rather than genuinely spontaneous.

Mr. Williams has some amusing moments as the titanium plated gentleman's gentleman. But unlike Dorothy's Tin Man, Andrew's heart never appears to be missing. From the very beginning, he demonstrates a curiosity and affection for the humans he serves. Most of the growth or development of the character is seen in the external improvements rather than in an internal realization. Stretched over the length of this movie, the characterization becomes transparently thin.

Embeth Davidtz (MANSFIELD PARK) in a dual role which has her playing both Little Miss and her grandchild, Portia, serves as the love interest for Andrew. Knowing that she cannot invest her emotions in a machine, she nonetheless must admit that no human tugs at her heart in quite the same way.

Oliver Platt (LAKE PLACID) brightens the screen as a kindly robotics engineer who drolly helps Andrew realize his goal to become accepted as human. And Sam Neill as Andrew's first (and last) owner shows a compassion and endearing affection towards his animatronic property turned friend.

Chris Columbus tries to look at the age-old question "What is the meaning of life?" by turning the question on its head and simply asking, "what defines life?" Of course, he isn't up to the challenge of answering his own question which he nimbly sidesteps. Were the question posed to a biblically minded person, the answer is readily available:

"The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33:4 [KJV]

Despite the technological breakthroughs of the modern world, one thing remains clear. Regardless of how much man may make something to resemble a human, the God-given life that is in us cannot be duplicated.

Andrew's quest for humanity is a noble but futile search. We may someday reach a point where we can build a machine like an NDR-114 with artificial intelligence, but to infuse that machine with a soul life is something that will always remain beyond our purview. God, after all, is the Creator of all life.

    Michael Elliott
    December 1999
    http://www.christiancritic.com

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews