Spielberg, Paying Homage To A Late Friend,

Has Finished A Summer Film With Teeth

Just last week I was lamenting the fact that there was little out there of interest in the movie theaters. Summer cinema had thus far been sorely lacking, and the only film to leave any lasting impression was Memento, which came out early in the year. But along comes Steven Spielberg’s latest, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, a summer flick with substance and ambition; a movie that gives viewers something to bite into, chew on and savor. It’s also undoubtedly a film that may infuriate. But one thing’s for sure: Hook this ain’t.

A.I. does not easily fit into the Spielberg canon at all. It began under the watch of late movie director Stanley Kubrick, who in 1979 purchased the rights to Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, the Brian Aldiss short story upon which the film is based. Over the years, Kubrick had confided in Spielberg about his plans for the movie, but according to published reports, it wasn’t until Spielberg released Jurassic Park that Kubrick began to believe his vision for the film could be realized. When Kubrick passed away after completing Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, he had done extensive pre-production work on A.I., much of which he had shared with Spielberg. Thus, in memory of his deceased friend, Spielberg grabbed the reins of the project and saw it through to completion.

Set in the distant 21st Century, A.I. posits a future in which the polar ice caps have melted and flooded a great deal of the earth’s surface, thus creating a call for restrictions on population growth. To ensure that resources are not exploited, the use of “mechas” – robots that serve as everything from menial servants, laborers, nannies and more – has become commonplace. But one inventor, Professor Hobby (William Hurt), determines to take these androids one step further by creating a robot boy, David (Haley Joel Osment) that will love his owners unconditionally. David’s test run, so to speak, is with Monica (Frances O’Connor) and Henry (Sam Robards) Swinton, a young couple that is mourning their only son, who has fallen prey to an incurable disease. He arrives with the design of filling the emotional hole left by the loss of their son, but the dynamic that evolves as David lives among flesh-and-blood beings only creates further difficulties.

Simply from a filmmaking perspective, there is much to laud in A.I. The performances are top-notch, from the heart-breaking, nuanced work of Osment (who continues to prove that his Oscar-nominated work in The Sixth Sense was no fluke) to the flashy, fun portrayal of Gigolo Joe, a sex android played by Jude Law, who would be the ultimate scene stealer in this film except that role is taken by the animatronic Teddy (voiced by Jack Angel), a robotic, walking-talking teddy bear. Also stunning is the eye-catching production design (Rick Carter) and stellar cinematography by frequent Spielberg cohort Janusz Kaminski. Even veteran composer John Williams, Spielberg’s longtime collaborator, gains attention by contributing perhaps one of his most unique music scores.

Yet ultimately, A.I., rated PG-13 for adult content and violent images, is noteworthy because it represents an intriguing amalgamation of the distinct and almost diametrically opposed sensibilities of filmmakers Spielberg and Kubrick. The film, in its unwieldiness and vagaries (What’s it about?  Human prejudice?  Man’s search for his Creator?  A boy’s desire to be loved by Mommy?  A loss of ethical thinking?  All of the above?  None of the above?), often represents the cool, clinical touch of Kubrick, displaying a detached yet also near-loving attention to detail and space.

On the other hand, it also shows some of the sentimental, storybook style of Spielberg, the wide-eyed, curious kid who loves a good tale. Perhaps most surprising is that if the film leans more towards one artist than the other, it feels more Kubrick than it does Spielberg, if only because there’s an underlying creepiness in the subtext of the film. But since the screenplay was written by Spielberg (his first since Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Poltergeist), maybe it’s logical to assume that A.I. can also be pegged as one filmmaking legend’s nod of the cap to another, while also providing Spielberg’s own stamp to a bold summer entry that’s meaty enough for a second viewing.