The movie opens in an undisclosed time presumably in the not-too-distant future with the aging Frank (played brilliantly by Frank Langella), living alone in his filthy and unkempt house. Years ago, Frank was a master jewel thief, whose life of crime eventually led to him serving time in prison, which in itself lead to a failed marriage and strained relationships between him and his two now grown up children (James Marsden and Liv Tyler). Frank is now on his own, struggling to come to grips with his increasing age and his slowly deteriorating mental health. In fact, his only real companion (and closest thing he has to a friend) is a local librarian named Jennifer (Susan Sarandon). Realizing his father's failing health, Frank's son Hunter presents Frank with an assistance robot programmed to provide him with therapeutic care, housekeeping, and a fixed daily routine. Frank initially wants nothing to do with his new robotic companion, but he eventually starts to warm up to it when he realizes that he can use it to assist him in a new set of heists. He teaches his robot the tricks of his trade, and suddenly Frank is robbing houses again with his technological companion.
The basic plot to Robot & Frank doesn't exactly stray away from a typical formula for the average indie drama/buddy comedy. That said, it does manage to deliver a very well-told version of the familiar narrative, making it into an emotional introspective on aging in addition to being an interesting drama about the depressing results of living a life of crime.
With so many movies glamorizing jewel thieves or other Danny Ocean like criminals, Robot & Frank ultimately shows that leading a criminal life leaves you alone, depressed, and bitter. The film doesn't force you to sympathize or even like Frank right away, but it nonetheless portrays him as a person with numerous problems but deep down has a soul. His interactions with his robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) are quite entertaining. The two have some enjoyable comedic bantering but also share a few dramatic moments as well. Fortunately, the movie never comes off as too cute or overly melodramatic either, bur rather hits a near-perfect stride of drama and humor that ensures neither trait overstays it's welcome. Add some great characters, a few stand-out scenes, and some poignant subtext, and it's overall a good story.The performances are all around quite good, but the stand out, to no surprise, has to be Langella. He really sells the role, downplaying any excessive "cutesy" moments while avoiding any over-the-top melodrama. He carries out both the dramatic scenes along with the moments of humor with his natural presence and dramatic range. It's hard to say right now, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Langella score an Oscar nomination for this role.
Susan Sarandon's role as Frank flirt and librarian is fairly small, but she sells it quite well. James Marsden brings a believable sense of frustration, obligation, and concern as Frank's son Hunter, who grows increasingly angry dealing with his father's antics. He comes to his aid anyways because he's his Dad and he has to love him. Liv Tyler does another serviceable job as the daughter, Madison, and that's all I really have to say about her. Peter Sarsgaard's monotone line deliveries as the robot were spot on. It takes a talented voice actor to take an inherently emotionless character and manage to give him some kind of a soul. It's all around a well-acted film with Langella stealing the show. No complaints there.The movie has a very down-to-earth and interesting look as well. One of the complaints I often hear about future-set sci-fi movies is that they often overplay the futuristic elements. Take Back To The Future Part II for example (even though I do like the movie), the scenes set in 2015 predicted that we would be riding in flying cars, dehydrating and re-hydrating the food we eat, and that we would be watching holographic movies (well, considering the resurgence of 3D movies, that one's almost true). Many movies have nobly tried and failed to predict our future technological developments, and sometimes that can make the movie look quite silly. While only time will tell how close Robot & Frank fared out in this department, it seemed to me that the filmmakers did their homework and creating a fairly believable and down to earth vision of the future. This particular future includes evolved versions of the smart phone, home phones replaced by a Skype-like program, and print media being replaced by digital content. Even Frank's robot bares a striking resemblance to Honda's technological marvel, ASIMO. If robot technology ever takes off in any major way, I would imagine most robots would probably have spawned, in some way, shape, or form from ASIMO. Overall, this version of the future seemed like a thought-out and believable depiction. Like I said, we'll have to wait to see how well it will eventually hold up, but for now, I can buy it.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of things to critique here. As I mentioned, this plot is hardly anything groundbreaking, and even though I enjoyed the overall story, it wasn't hard to predict how it would end.
There was even a twist in the third act that I won't spoil, but I have feeling most watching will probably figure out. There is also a strange subplot about Liv Tyler's character Madison, being vehemently anti-robot and makes it clear that she objects to her father having a robot aid. It's never explained exactly why, other than that she's something of a humanitarian (she starts out in the film doing some kind of philanthropic work in Turkmenistan). Maybe there's something I missed, but it seemed like an odd subplot, that not only gets resolved somewhat abruptly, but felt like was supposed to have some dynamic subtext but instead felt more tacked on and pointless. None of these were anything major, but worth noting.Overall, Robot & Frank was a very enjoyable film. It didn't blow me away nor did it do anything that hasn't been seen before, but it's still a very well-acted movie with a predictable though still enjoyable story. It's hard to say whether this one will score any Oscar nominations, but the possibility is definitely there. If it's playing at a theater near you, give it a watch.
My Score: 4 out of 5!
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