Robots

When I saw Robert Sheckley's name in the credits, I knew right away what I was in for. And that's the best thing about Robots: it's the best cinematic rendition so far of Sheckley's unique mix of SF and satire.

To be sure, that mix may not be to everyone's taste. The main reason is likely to be historical. The story The Robot Who Looked Like Me, upon which the movie Robots is based, dates back to 1978, and is bound to show its age a bit. On the other hand, the basic concept remains fresh and amusing: robot stand-ins being used for devious purposes, thereby bringing out the worst in weak personalities.

The execution isn't perfect. Some gags are side-splitting, others barely worth a giggle. The relationship between the two leads follows an obvious but not entirely believable trajectory. And yet, the movie overall achieves what it sets out to do. It's both funny and thought-provoking, suggesting ways of thinking about 'AI' that may not have occurred to us even as the technology is being deployed around us.

The acting is solid. Shailene Woodley and British comedian Jack Whitehall both do a good job in their double roles - triple, in the case of Woodley). Their 'real' personalities are suitably loathsome and venal. The robot personalities are convincingly genteel and obsequious. And Woodley's bit as a sex-toy version of herself is hilarious.

But what I liked most was that old lunatic feel of Sheckley's writing. He's not the best-remembered author of the SF golden age, perhaps because he took a very different approach. I haven't pulled any of his books off my shelf for many years, but certain passages, certain zany situations, still ring in my mind. It's great to see this kind of material rediscovered and respectfully adapted. I wish Hollywood would get busy adapting more SF classics works for 21st-Century audiences.

(FYI: previous Sheckley adaptations have included The Tenth Victim - La Decima VIttima, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress, and Freejack, starring Mick Jagger. Not great films, but stylish fun.)

Some films you want to cry, some films you want to tell a serious historic story of love, suffering or redemption. This is not one of those films, it's a fun film to relax to which will also keep you entertained.

So, robots that look like humans have replaced illegal immigrants in America. They now do all the chores such that some people even send them out to their jobs well they chill at home, and it even goes so far that this guy uses one to find dates. Of course these robots want a life of their own eventually, and try to escape. It's like a whacky tale of unexpected romance, with some amusing twists. If you like the type of 'house party' genre, you'll love this, bit actually the story is better thought out than these. It's still situational comedy, and yes the story isn't amazing, but it's there and it's well put together. The characters were fun, and I definitely recommend this to any adult (some non explicit sex scenes) who wants to relax and just see a fun (but not childish) movie.

After watching the trailer I expected to like this movie and it turned out to be pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. It's a straightforward story with plenty of laughs. The jokes mostly landed for me, even the silly ones, but that's going to vary from person to person. People are always so hard on comedies but I would take a bad comedy over a good drama most days. But I don't think this is a bad comedy, at worst it's average.

It's foremost a romance, so anyone not looking for a rom-com is watching the wrong movie. But it's a nice alternative to the Hallmark romances churned out by the dozen. Rom-coms involving a begrudging alliance between two people ill-suited to be together who eventually fall in love is one of my favorite tropes. It reminded me of Addicted to Love.

We live in a time where body double robots can do the tedious legwork until a relationship gets serious. Even office work, board meetings and more can be handled by a robot.

Modern era catfishing is not only funny, but also very similar to everyday dating woes.

The movie combines romance, comedy, technology and a refreshing view into the future of humanity.

While the depicted storyline isn't reality as of today - we are also not that far away from it.

Only time will tell whether the intrinsic situations of this movie will come true.

Knowing humans, some of them might do it.

A great movie set in Los Angeles.

What we have here seems like a silly sci-fi romcom, it even works as such. But upon closer inspection you'll realize most of the jokes are aimed not at the characters on screen but rather at us, the viewers. The characters themselves are well written and well performed cartoons with single characteristic driving each of them, not with a fully developed character, they should have if they're to pass as relatable humans. Which means - what we're watching is in-fact a satire not a romcom. But since satire is often confused with comedy and comedy does sell better, it does make sense to disguise it as a silly rom-com.

Do have a closer look, you'll see the point is our never-ending quest for leisurely carefree living with as little regard as possible to anyone but us. So what would happen if we did get robots to do all our dirty jobs. What if we could build them to look exactly like us. Yes that would be illegal but when did the law stop anyone with enough money from breaching it. So this "what's if", is the starting point of this very clever movie. I won't tell you any more on the plot. Ill only mention the single major fault of this movie - a forced ending meant to suite its rom-com disguise. I'd rate it much higher without this forced end. Still, it's a fun clever movie worth your time.