A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is a haunting, heartfelt science fiction drama that offers movie fans a marriage made in 24-frames per second heaven: the visionary eye of the late Stanley Kubrick with the directorial (and also in this case, screenwriting) magic of Steven Spielberg. The result is 2001:Pinocchio's Odyssey, a stunning work of filmmaking highly uncommon for this or any summer movie season.

Based on three short stories from Supertoys Last All Summer Long, by Brian Aldiss, A.I. is the story of an android in the guise of an 11-year old boy named David (Haley Joel Osment). David is the cybergenic creation by Professor Hobby (William Hurt) as a possible solution for couples who are childless (Earth's natural resources have eroded to the point where population control is strictly enforced). The couple that receives David, Henry and Monica Swinton (Sam Robards and Frances O' Connor) already have a child, but he is terminally ill and currently is in cryogenic suspension.

At first, Monica is understandably creeped out by the presence of David, but over time begins to accept him. David begins to refer to her as "Mommy" and she starts to care for him the way she would her real son, Martin (Jake Thomas). However, just as this familial relationship is beginning to bloom, Martin comes out of his coma and re-enters the family scene. As with any child having to deal with a new "sibling" in the house, there is a great deal of animosity aimed at David, which leads to a few unfortunate accidents that nearly kill Martin.

With their real son back with them, Henry decides to "discard" David by having Monica leaving him in the woods to fend for himself (Standard Spielberg trademark: Dad is a dick). Using the story of Pinocchio (which Monica read to Marin and him) as a blueprint of sorts, David, accompanied by his supertoy, a talking, walking bear named Teddy, begins a journey to find the magical "Blue Fairy" in the hopes of becoming a human boy so he may be loved in return the same way he loves his mother.

Having two filmmakers as vastly different as Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick working on the same project together is both an exciting and scary prospect: if they find a common creative vibe, the film will be a stunner. If not, it could be a schizophrenic disaster that would send a lot of film geeks (myself at the front of the line) into serious cinematic depression.

Thankfully, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence's final result is one that doesn't resemble the latter and comes very damn close to the former. Spielberg, working from a 90-page outline of notes that Kubrick wrote as a treatment for the movie, has done a remarkable job in balancing Kubrick's pessimism with his optimism without having one overcrowd the other. The bleak, cold inhuman future, where the androids seem to possess more emotion than their creators, is pure Kubrick, while David's long journey to find unequivocal love and acceptance is trademark Spielberg.

Yet, Spielberg's directing here is not the warm and fuzzy style of E.T. It is more genteel and relaxed, giving the script (which he adapted) a chance to come to life without being overshadowed by camera tricks and visual effects (although those are here as well, thanks to the excellent cinematography by Janusz Kaminski and the stunning visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic). At 146 minutes, the film does run about ten minutes too long (the Flesh Fair and Doctor Know sequences should have been trimmed down), but the length is not enough to take away from what is accomplished here.

Last fall, when I was reviewing a perfectly dreadful movie called Pay It Forward, I stated Haley Joel Osment might have been a one-trick pony in terms of his acting (in short, his performance in that film was less than impressive). After seeing this film however, I am very happy to report that I was wrong. Dead wrong. As David, Osment gives his best performance to date. He's completely believable and his performance is very heartfelt, making it easy to empathize with him on his quest. This is award-worthy acting.

As Gigolo Joe, the male android who befriends David and accompanies him on his journey, Jude Law turns in an energetic and spirited performance. As for the other players, Frances O'Connor is good as Monica, David's "Mommy" (the scenes she shares with Osment though is where she really shines), while William Hurt has a nice, albeit small, turn as Professor Hobby. Ben Kingsley adds a nice layer to the film as a narrator that opens and closes the story.

Spielberg has brought along his usual crew to handle the behind the scenes work and once again, they do not disappoint. John Williams delivers a nice, subtle score (although I am pretty sure he did write the songs performed by Ministry), while Michael Kahn's editing is, big surprise, first rate. Along with aforementioned Kaminski and ILM's work, a huge round of applause should also go out to production designer Rick Carter and effects geniuses Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri (and of course, Industrial Light and Magic) for bringing to visual life a future world quite realistically.

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is a movie unlike any other that we have seen in quite some time. It's a haunting, emotional, almost poetic journey that will fascinate as many viewers as it frustrates. You may feel a little scared about our future after seeing it. You may also wipe away a tear or two away in the process. You may find it a depressing, lumbering, boring mess that you thought would never end.

Either way, you won't soon forget the movie. Pro or con, images and themes will creep back into your mind and make you think and rethink a lot of things. This is not your typical Hollywood summertime movie and because of it's dark nature, definitely not a film for the entire family. It is, however, the best film I have seen so far this year and it is definitely the best science fiction film I have seen in years.

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