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AI: Artificial Intelligence
Short plot summary

A journey through a world of Mechas (robots which look like humans) and Orgas (real people). Mechas are making people unemployed, leading on to near civil war levels of hostility.

A company invents a Mecha who can truly love, but what happens when he is not loved back... what lengths he goes to, to find love... watch on... not many jokes in this updated fairy tale...

What our panel of critics thought

"Jude Law exhibits all of the characteristics of a plastic man with all of the advantages of a human underneath. Thankfully, he does not go fully nude, although if he did we are sure it would have been a triumph!"

"Why would a woman want a child who loves her but never grows up? The bitch is looking to be brought down hard."

"Dr Know: Who shot Kennedy?"

"On my first viewing I thought this was a worthy movie. Yes, it is a difficult movie to watch as it deals with a difficult subject. However, the movie is jammed packed with great ideas and could, on future viewings, become a favorite."

"I could not stop comparing this movie to Blade Runner. It passes comparison very well in all of its nightmarish qualities and concepts."

"From a flooded Manhattan to a nightmarish arena where robots are destroyed for the enjoyment of the crowd. A veritable Super Bowl of mechanized mischief. A wonder!"

Studio executives summary / pitch
Steven Spielberg makes now dead Stanley Kubrick's mind-robot-child... Welcome to this brave new world, kids.
Please tell me the ending or plot overview if necessary

David (Haley Joel Osment) is a robot created to resemble exactly Monica's 11 year old, dead, son. He is programmed to love anyone who reads a series of code words, this Monica (Frances O'Conner) does.

After an eerie start Monica and her husband warm to David, but he malfunctions, almost killing their real son. Rather than returning David to his makers for dismantling, Monica abandons him in a forest. Here he meets up with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), another Mecha.

David believes the reason his mother has abandoned him is because he is not a real boy, so, like Pinochio, searches for the Blue Fairy to make him human.

After a 2000 year wait he is discovered by an advanced robot reality who can give David his dreams. This they do, giving him a day with his mother. David dies at the end of this day.

Justify this movie's existence in the classic strand from theVoiceofReason.com's Veritable Cornucopia

A mesmerizing wander through the future where our worst fears on Artificial Intelligence appears to come true.

What would happen if mankind can create a robot who can love, if we cannot love it back? A triumph of handling a complex subject, one that will, indeed, be an issue one day when we get that far down that technological slippery slope!

On the whole a very uncomfortable movie, but one I am glad they made the effort for. Not a movie I may watch and watch, but one I am very glad I have seen.

Quotable quotes (real)

The code words needed to make David love Monica:

CIRRUS SOCRATES PARTICLE DECIBEL HURRICANE DOLPHIN TULIP MONICA DAVID MONICA

What snack should I eat while watching this movie?

Teddy Bear shaped cookies.

Would your cat like this movie? Would your dog like it? Other pets?

This is a dog movie - dogs will like the Teddy Bear character and will be able to walk like that - on its hind legs - by the end of the movie - move all furntiture to the garage before the movie starts.

Your cat may shriek throughout the movie, knowing that when it is possible to have an un-opinionated cat like him he will be the first to be replaced by AI cats, so what the hell.

Pets smaller than a grown man's hand will not be threatened by this movie as they reason that they will be cheaper than any mechanized toy for at least another 50 generations.

Other comments

(Based on a short story "Supertoys last all summer long" by Brian Aldiss.)

The movie Stanley Kubrick was working on for years but never completed. Directed by Steven Spielberg following Kubrick's death.

An uncomfortable movie which makes an important point.

The movie is very well made and may become a classic - especially when we look back on it in 40 years time, after we have confronted these issues for real...

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