There are movies that come along that don't really have one genre, but instead mix them and if done right can really create something special. The latest film Robot and Frank starring Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, and Peter Sarsgard blending drama with a touch of Sci-fi, but does this film work or is this great cast wasted on a failed experiment?
Robot and Frank follows a retired cat burglar in the near future whose family is concerned with him living alone. When his wealthy son delivers a robot caretaker to help with his day to day life he begins to see the benefits it could have for him to return to his old life. But as things seem to get better, his worsening health and dementia may be more than even the robot can help with. This is one of those films from description may or may not sound all that appealing, but delivers a truly surprising emotional film. For most of the film it is just Langella and the robot in charge of carrying the film and it works amazingly well. Langella gives one of the best performances in a quite some time, which is saying something since he is pretty much always great. This story manages to take a story element that is somewhat out there and add some humor and a hefty dose of heart to create a really unexpected experience. There are not over the top CG special effects to bring the robot to life, just a person in a very basic suit and it works perfectly.
This is one of those special movies that only comes along every so often and is a must see. You wouldn't think there could be much of a relationship between and old man and a robot this strong until you see this film. While everything is pretty laid out for you about the direction of this movie, it still manages to throw in some unexpected twists and surprises that will make you love this movie even more. If you haven't seen or heard of this movie you need to fix this issue immediately and check it out.
