Spielberg's. Review on A.I. Artificial Intelligence Movie

SPIELBERG is known to be obsessed with his childhood fantasies as well as his deep regard for master film directors. Indeed, Hollywood lore goes that he longed to collaborate with Stanley Kubrik, for over two decades, on a futuristic movie inspired by a whimsical story called Super-toys last all summer which was printed in Harper's Bazaar way back in 1969. Alas, the Kubrik-Spielberg collaboration could never fructify. With A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Spielberg goes at it alone, even authoring the screenplay. The outcome is a super-dazzler which, in a way, serves as a fulsome homage to the late Kubrik. Caroming audaciously between dreams and nightmares, Spielberg is in the kind of amazingly assured form evidenced in one of his best works, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind(1977). The setting is a waterlogged future, where births are controlled because of over-population. A well-heeled couple (Sam Robards-Frances O'Connor) are grappling with the prospect of losing their only child who is in coma after a near-fatal illness. A cyrogenics firm offers a robo-kid for adoption to the distraught couple. David, the toy boy, is built for affection and caring. All seems to be hunky-dory till the biological kid emerges from coma. David is rendered redundant and cruelly abandoned in the wilderness. Then begins the cyber-child's journey through the neon-lit badlands in a bid to find solace with its creator. Among the societal dregs the boy encounters are other rejected automatons, including a sex-machine of sorts going by the epithet Gigolo Joe (Law). The finale, like much of this movie, is a visual and emotional stunner. Throughout, the plot works on a metaphorical level without ever getting heavy-handed or obscure. The selfishness and apathy of a need-based world is underscored with deft and yet lacerating strokes by Spielberg, almost like a kid who's been denied his share of parental love. Imaginatively plotted and packed with visual fireworks, AI is particularly remarkable for the cinematography of Janusz Kaminski, creative set designs and a throbbing background music score. Osment, the Oscar-nominated kid from The Sixth Sense , is outstanding. It's plain to see that here's a child actor who's a prodigy. The tough-talking, swaggering Law is first-rate as well. Surprisingly, AI didn't click at the international box-office, reminding us of the adage that there's no accounting for taste. So do try to catch it before it's too late.