I haven’t watched many movies lately because my fiancée has been binge watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (again) but last night I watched a brilliant film that I’ve somehow never seen till now.
Bicentennial Man (1999)
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a heartwarming sci-fi/comedy/drama directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) that stars Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Embeth Davidtz (Matilda) and Oliver Platt (Lake Placid) among others.
Here’s what it’s about:
In the near future a family buys an android to perform housekeeping and menial duties. In the days that follow they begin to realise that “Andrew” (Williams) is no ordinary robot when he shows signs of experiencing emotions and creative thought.
Set over two centuries, the story follows Andrew and his life with the Martin family as he seeks to become more human.
This is such a beautiful film!
The story is really moving and Robin Williams’ performance is so full of heart you have to be completely dead inside not to be touched by it. In fact I haven’t loved a robot this much since I watched WALL-E earlier this year.
The movie is actually based on a book called “The Positronic Man” by Isaac Asimov which itself is based on his original novelette “The Bicintenial Man”.
Although it bombed at the box office and suffered bad reviews (I don’t take any notice of reviews anyway) I loved it!
This is definitely one to watch if, like me you’ve managed to miss it all these years.
Seen it? What do you think?