Subtle and Moving
Rating: 8 of 10 
Whoever has watched a single episode of Star Trek TNG will know about the android Data, the positronic man aiming for being human, perfecting his humor, fighting for his freedom, experiencing emotions. As Data's character is loosely based upon Asimov's Positronic Man and "Bicentennial Man", these conflicts and character traits will seem very common, even repetitive with this movie, although there is no real repetition, this is the genuine story here, any similarities arising from the book, the mutual source.
Once this is clear, once the philosophic nature is accepted, the movie is truly enjoyable - although most possible edges and conflicts are either removed or smoothened, reduced to a family audience level. This is not The Outer Limits, which features some Robot stories also. It isn't a science fiction piece; like in Star Trek, that's just the groundwork, the twist to allow for such a story to exist in the first place. But still, the conflicts are there, just in a more subtle way: The issue of slavery, of freedom, of surviving your friends and family, of aging, of life and death - that's also the brilliant thing about this movie: That Chris Columbus is able to tell this story in a gripping and touching way, not evading the conflicts but putting them into the frame of history. Time heals all wounds.
Not every movie needs a restless direction like 'Any Given Sunday' to succeed, sometimes it is just the story told in a great and comforting way, told by fine actors and solid effects. The only points of criticism I would have are the beautiful but boringly uninventive soundtrack by James Horner (who should try composing something which doesn't sound like a collage of all his previous movies) and the outlook of future technology and society, which I consider too tame and too slow in development. Given the current rate of progress and the future potential in 200 years, not even including probable contact with extraterrestrial life, the future as shown in this film is not entirely believable. One aspect about this I liked though: That besides skyscrapers and air taxis there will probably also be small country houses in a more old-fashioned style. But the most important aspect was the hope, the certainty the film provided: That humanity will not die out, that within all storms and perturbations, love is eternal, and death just a passage to another place.
March 15th, 2000
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