Surrogates (2009)

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

Director:

Jonathan Mostow

Writers:

Michael Ferris (screenplay), John D. Brancato (screenplay),

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Greer
Radha Mitchell	...	Peters
Rosamund Pike	...	Maggie
Boris Kodjoe	...	Stone
James Francis Ginty	...	Canter
James Cromwell	...	Older Canter
Ving Rhames	...	The Prophet
Jack Noseworthy	...	Strickland
Devin Ratray	...	Bobby
Michael Cudlitz	...	Colonel Brendon
Jeffrey De Serrano	...	Armando
Helena Mattsson	...	JJ the Blonde
Michael Phillip	...	Uniformed Cop
Danny F Smith	...	Victim (as Danny Smith)
Brian A. Parrish	...	Hard Hat (as Brian Parrish)

Storyline

People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates -- sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi agent | future | murder | robot | investigation | 

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Taglines:

How do you save humanity when the only thing that's real is you?

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene

Details

Official Sites:

Choose Your Surrogate.com Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Identidad sustituta

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£961,271 (UK) (25 September 2009)

Gross:

$38,542,418 (USA) (27 November 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Mandeville Films, Top Shelf Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The unusual shoulder patch worn by Colonel Brendon is the 26th Infantry Division. A former division of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, it has been deactivated since 1993. The insignia is actually a stylized "YD", for their nickname, "The Yankee Division".

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Goofs

At the end of the film, mild damage from cars on some (not overly busy) inner city streets is shown, and voice-over newscasters are heard saying that there were zero human casualties. One might think that surrogates operating airplanes, when disconnected, would crash and kill human passengers. Still, there are two reasons this might not be so: first, human populations were seen as subsisting without technology, driving a horse-cart for example. No airplanes are seen in the film, likely because, as Maggie Grier explains, a vacation means operating a long-distance surrogate, not flying (one's surrogate) to a remote location.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Prophet: Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We're not meant to experience the world through a machine.

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Connections

Referenced in Get Him to the Greek (2010)

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Soundtracks

"HiJacker"
Written by Deane Ogden
Performed by Deane Ogden
Courtesy of Deane Ogden Music

User Reviews

Excellent Sci-Fi Flick with Great Action Sequences

This film was an interesting twist on the robot as human concept, with a plot that managed to keep the viewer interested right up until the dramatic ending. A high tech company has specialized in mass producing surrogates, or personal robots, which are sold to the American middle class. They are quickly adopted to perform routine functions and then essentially perform high level functions (like one's job). The main theme was how the surrogates assumed people's lives and identities to such an extent the flesh & blood owner of the surrogate could stay home and presumably pursue higher level interests. The reality was most people simply fell into a spiritual stupor, resorting to alcohol or drugs to pass their time.

The actors were all very good and up to the task of portraying themselves in robotic fashion (this doesn't require great acting skill but the screenplay was quite good). I thought Bruce Willis did a good job in the lead role(s) as FBI Agent Tom Geer (he also played his "surrogate" as a very low key robot). Bruce's surrogate is investigating the death of the son of the founder of the corporation that invented and produced the surrogates. This kicked off the main plot, which centered around an armed resistance group opposed to surrogates and attempting to defeat the surrogates and the corporation that produced them.

If the plot sounds confused, at times it is, and the ending may be less than satisfying. But for a far fetched sci-fi movie about robots, this was one of the better ones I've seen.