Armed with memories of “The Wizard of Oz,” “Bicentennial Man,” “Pinocchio,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Stepford Wives,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and several episodes of “The Twilight Zone,” Mr. Spielberg pays homage to Stanley Kubrick, who died before he could make this film himself. Rather than uplifting the viewer, this cynical look at family life in the future reminded me of “Pinocchio” had it been written by Gomez Addams.
An endless movie (144 minutes), I got the impression that the filmmaker was overcome with his own reasoning for mankind’s dilemma. He gives us a dark, cynical and verbose look at what man is becoming, shut off and alienated from others by an ever growing/changing technology. There will no doubt be articles and conversations for weeks to come discussing the meaning of “A.I.,” but for me it lacked any cohesive reason. While there are some Christian symbols bandied about, they aren’t respectfully or artfully used as in several previous Spielberg movies (“E.T.;” “Schindler’s List;” “Empire of the Sun;” “The Color Purple”). Rather, Christian symbolism is either ridiculed or shown as impotent. I could find no resolve that God was ultimately in charge. With the human race extinguished and aliens rescuing the film’s central character, is Spielberg saying extraterrestrials are the actual Supreme Beings? Hmmm…
Technically, “A.I.” is remarkable, with its state-of-the-art effects and direction by perhaps the greatest filmmaker of all time. And Haley Joel Osment proves that his Oscar-nominated performance in “The Sixth Sense” was no fluke. He’s the best child actor of all time. Even as a robot who never blinks, you can see through his eyes into his deepest recesses. He’s perceptive, unaffected, and honest. But this is one dark, cold movie, with elements of cruelty and despair. This isn’t just a depressing film, it literally grieves the spirit. Bizarre, spooky, at times overtly sexual, this is not a cuddly fairytale for little ones. It may even cause them to experience nightmares and certainly it will cause confusion. Ultimately, it is a noir-ish thriller for adults. But is it a prophetic parable? Is there a moral? Beats me. Perhaps I need to see it again in an attempt to decipher its underlying meaning; however, that isn’t going to happen.
