The other day I had the privilege of attending an advance screening of the new Spielberg flick "A.I." and I was quite pleased. I have been looking forward to viewing this project for over two years, when Entertainment Weekly ran an article about "Kubrick's Lost Project" right after his death in March of 1999. Based on the footage and stills I have already seen, I was a bit worried that the story would be too much fluff and not enough of the good stuff, but this was a worry that was put to rest. I can imagine this being directed by Kubrick, but it also plays like a Spielberg film. That is the beauty of it, those being two of my favorite directors of all time.
The film jumps right in, placing artificial intelligence robot David (Haley Joel Osment) into the family unit of Monica and her husband, Henry. He is quickly shown learning to love them and all the emotional stuff the previews and commercials would have you expecting. This is pure Spielberg, and I could not imagine this amount of emotion coming out of a Kubrick film, he of the dry characters in "Eyes Wide Shut". The emotion plays well, and for an artificial being with no real emotions, Osment does quite a nice job summoning some interesting ranges of acting for someone so young. Frances O'Connor is excellent as Monica, the woman who becomes David's mother. The family unit consists the first act of the film, and it hold up quite nicely. For anyone who has read the Brian Aldiss short story upon which the film is based (Super Toys Last All Summer Long) they will appreciate this part of the film a bit more. I have, and while reading the story I was worried that the character of Teddy (a stuffed bear toy that David has) would ruin the film in a Jar-Jar sort of way, but he does not. He is surprisingly enjoyable, and made me laugh a number of times.
After David is forced to leave his home life, he finds himself on the run with other "rogue" robots. It is here that he meets Joe, a robot pimp played by Jude Law, who appears to have been born for this role. I can't picture any other actor playing the role. Joe helps David on his journey to become a real boy, in order to obtain the true love of Monica. The second act of the picture plays like the best Sci Fi I have seen in years, with effects that I was quite amazed by as well as interested in the story, not because it was startlingly original (in fact, Monica reads David "Pinocchio" in the film) but because it plays like Pinocchio in the year three thousand (whereas the actual year in which the film takes place is never revealed). Joe and David (with the help of Teddy of course) make a great team, on David's quest to become more than just another mecha (the term in the film for artificial beings).
I can't really say more without ruining the plot, which has been kept super secret, but the third act finds David finishing his journey (to what level of success I will not say) and just when I thought the film was going to end, bookend in the emotional fluff, the Sci Fi kicks right back in, in a way that I was marveling at, and summons the 100% pure Spielberg of "Close Encounters". This film was honestly everything I expected it to be, and more. This is a good last project for Kubrick's name to be attached to, and I am sure he would be pleased with the final product, because certain scenes (the way the lighting is, the way the music is used) is reminiscent of "2001" and "Clockwork Orange". I heard that the reason Kubrick decided not to make this film years ago was because he wanted to wait for computer technology to advance a little more, so he could do it exactly like he wanted. All I can say is that the wait paid off.
