Robot & Frank

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Robot & Frank – 4 out of 5

Robots are nothing new in the world of fiction or in the realm of non-fiction—albeit, the real ones aren’t as cool as the ones we see in movies, comics, book, video games and more.  It’s kinda rare where we see a film that involves a robot that isn’t actively trying to murder fleshy humans but it’s kind of a nice change of pace when we get this.  Robot & Frank delivers us a story that isn’t about a mechanical creation of man out to destroy the ones that made them but rather a really sweet and heartwarming tale.  Although, years of Terminator sequels caused me to keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and have a scene where the robot suddenly chokes out Frank.

Obligatory "What are you doing, Dave?" caption.

I can't wait for retirement so I can spend my entire days
like this.  I'm kidding.  I'll never afford to retire.

In the not too distant future (and immediate the theme song to MST3K has appeared in my head), a former cat burglar named Frank (Frank Langella—also, drink every time you see the word “Frank”) is trying to live a quiet, retired life in a small town.  However, his children (James Marsden and Liv Tyler) are worried about him because he’s growing increasingly forgetful.  His son Hunter buys him a service robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard and acted by Rachael Ma) to help him out around the house.  Frank is put off by the mechanical acquaintance and is rude and standoffish to it despite the fact the robot just wants to help him with his memory and improve his health.  Frank starts to come around after his local library begins to transition from physical books to digital media and he decides to scratch his old thieving itch by stealing a first edition copy of one of the books and give it to the librarian (Susan Sarandon) as a gift.  Suddenly the robot doesn’t seem to be such an inconvenience after all when he learns that it makes a good accomplice.

"Tonight we take over the world, my tiny robot friend!"

What impressed me the most about Robot & Frank is how it takes its premise and the fact that the second half of the two leads is a robot and it made a story that was amusing, touching and even bittersweet.  The story never feels like it is going for the easy moments—whether it’s for a joke or something that can easily squeeze a tear from your eye.  Instead, the tale feels like it is going for that real emotion and watching the bond between this robot and human form and seeing how Frank’s condition gets worse is easily captivating and creates a final product with heart.  Most importantly is how this heart doesn’t come off sappy or overly dramatic.  Everything just feels genuine.

I'm not going to put a caption here.  Just enjoy the robot/human hug.

One element that really strengthens the emotional core of this film is the performances.  Frank Langella delivers a terrific performance and is capable of balancing out the old curmudgeon, the restless retired thief and the man who is slowly losing his memories.  The robot is brought to life by Racheal Ma as the physical character on set and voiced by Peter Sarsgaard.  Ma makes the robot look and move like the current advancements we see and Sarsgaard was able to bring about voice acting that somehow created a sense of cold, lifelessness of what you would expect from an robotic being but also with enough emotion that you felt the connection that was being forged between the two characters.  Supporting players like Marsden and Tyler, Susan Sarandon as the librarian that Frank meets with, Jeremy Sisto as the town’s local sheriff and Jeremy Strong as the antagonist that Frank starts to despise as he makes the changes to the library were all performed very well and all were very grounded.  They added to the realism and grounded nature of the drama and solidified this film with a very talented and memorable cast.

Why isn't Susan Saradon making affirmation recordings?
If I heard her warm and welcoming voice telling me "You're Great," I'd
believe the hell out of it.

The only downside I saw for Robot & Frank is the replay factor.  I don’t think I’ll find myself watching it anytime in the near or far future.  It’s heart, drama, and justified slow narrative doesn’t translate to a feature that I would want to turn on very often.  That aside, it’s still an amazingly put together little film that has a great cast, a unique and simple story, and a whole lot of heart.