In the span of the year, a lot of movies have came and went without much of a noise. As the year two thousand and thirteen comes to a close, and most of the new releases have a specific theme of family, Christmas, or horror, it’s time to take a look back at the year’s worth of releases and pick out some of the gems that were not touched upon in the Dissection.
The Story
Set in the near future, an ex-jewel thief receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team.
The Cast
Frank Langella as Frank, the father of two kids and a former jewel thief living by himself in New York, suffering trouble with his memory as the film starts.
Peter Sarsgaard (voice) and Rachel Ma (performer) as Robot . A gift from Frank’s son, Hunter, who wants to give him a butler so he doesn’t feel alone in his home, and to avoid problems with his own family.
Susan Sarandon as Jennifer. A librarian that has Frank as her frequent, and only, guest at her place of work.
James Marsden as Hunter. The son of Frank, along with Liv Tyler as his sister Madison, who both check in on their ailing father.
The Dissection
Frank (Langella) and his Robot (Sarsgaard & Ma) gardening "together".
ROBOT & FRANK had a limited run in theaters, and was released on DVD in February of this year. Generally, films at the beginning of months tend to be ignored for the films released around the summer and fall, the blockbuster and Oscar seasons, respectively. Which is a shame, cause a movie like this deserves a bit more recognition than it got.
First off, concerning the plot, when it comes to the idea of the “not too distant future”, aside from the obvious MST3K link, it tends to be a bit of either “why bother” and “future stuff that never actually happened”. In ROBOT & FRANK, it’s handled better in the sense that a lot of what is shown as the “future” seems to be the next step of what occurs now. There’s still a bit of the futuristic element, but it’s very muted, though it’s averted with the titular Robot. It doesn’t really intrude on the actual story, and can be used, with minor tweaks, in numerous other situations.
And one thing that helps this movie a lot is the performances. First thing out of the gate is that Frank Langella is an awesome actor. Whether it be serious films or goofy genre fluff, he gives a great performances either way. This is no different, and possibly surpassing those. There is a depth to the character he plays. It might come off as a bit lazy that he shares his name with the character, but it actually helps to mold the character into a three dimensional person, and helps to invest you in the movie. The supporting cast, Sarsgaard’s voice and Rachael Ma’s performance as the Robot in particular, pop in and out to help to push the story, and don’t ever feel like they’re overstaying their welcomes.
" ...a movie like this deserves a bit more recognition than it got."
In the movie, there is a tone of seriousness that has a few comedy moments in it. Not big ones, but rather small scenes in the film that tie into the moment and help to expand the world the movie is taking place in. Also, it doesn’t beat you over the head with it, or make the film feel awkward cause of it. The only real issue in the story is minor, related to how best to see Frank as a person. He’s a thief, after all, and he’s never really seen as a good guy, even though he is the protagonist. And it does seem to get thrown away in the last section of the movie. Still, it’s relatively minor, and doesn’t impact the film too much.
The DVD itself is limited, though, as it only has a commentary track and a poster gallery. The track is interesting, though, if it means anything.
The Verdict
All in all, this is a great film. Highly recommended.