Robot & Frank

First Hit:  An amazing well done film covering our near future with robots, family dynamics, and dementia.

Frank (played by Frank Langella) has early stage dementia. His son Hunter (James Marsden) lives 5 hours away and drives up to visit his father every weekend. It is wearing on him.

But the real message is that they weren’t ever really close and there is a obligatory feeling to Hunter’s visits. Frank’s daughter Madison (played by Liv Tyler) is traveling the world with a natural “do-gooder” sort of spirit.

Frank visits the library to get his pile of books and to also visit the librarian named Jennifer (played by Susan Sarandon). He fancies Jennifer and there is a hint of this feeling being returned. Hunter buys his father a robot that is programmed to take care of his needs, clean his house, cook his food and try to get Frank to actively use his mind to lessen the dementia symptoms.

Frank hates the robot at first but soon discovers that the robot has possibilities for him and uses the robot to assist him in taking revenge on Jake (played by Jeremy Strong), a “consultant” who is destroying the library by removing its books and making it all electronic.

The film’s setup is a wonderful way to explore our near future, the relationships between family members, how technology may provide assistance, and if technology cares (Can robots feel or sacrifice?).

Langella is sublime. I couldn’t think of a better person to be this character; part time cat-burglar, lost in the past at times, fully present at others and all the while keeping a sense of dignity and fragility. Marsden is very good as the son who cares about his father but still resents him and his childhood. Tyler is great as the daughter that just loves her dad and still remembers how to fence jewelry. Sarandon is wonderful as the librarian. Her tone of voice is perfect when she says; “you’re not allowed to be in here”. Strong is good as the guy with the role of an arrogant jerk. Peter Sarsgaard is the voice of the robot and it is mesmerizing. Christopher D. Ford wrote a superior script. Jake Schreier directed this team with the perfect tone. The leap of faith to robots of this type was perfectly believable.

Overall: Outstanding film and superbly acted by all.

The Incredible Hulk

First Hit: The second version of this comic book character is much better than the first, but nothing special.

This is the version I was hoping to see the first time through. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner as someone with depth, intelligence and thoughtfulness.

The film begins with Bruce hiding out in an expansive (fly in shot is great) poor section of a large city in Brazil. We find Bruce working a shift in a soft drink bottling plant where, as a gringo, he isn’t favored by other male workers who push him along with prodding and baiting him to react.

However, the boss likes him because he can also fix electronic problems with an overhead crane. We also see him in his little hole-in-the-wall home communicating via computer with someone in the US named Mr. Blue (played by Tim Blake Nelson).

Mr. Blue is attempting to assist him in discovering a cure to his propensity for becoming the Hulk when he gets angry. There is also a scene where Bruce is learning to control his anger and heart rate through a form of meditation.

All this is to say that there was a lot of effort to make Bruce a human being first and the Hulk second. This was effective and made the film interesting because Norton made this person someone worth caring about.

However, the film is pretty standard in the chase and be chased genre with the eventual winner known.

Edward Norton does an excellent job of bringing humanness and thoughtfulness to the Hulk. Liv Tyler is sweet and uninspiring as his girlfriend Betty. William Hurt playing General Ross, Betty’s father, and the person who is the pursuer of the Hulk, phoned it in. There were members of the audience who applauded, as did I, when Lou Ferrigno, as a security guard, showed up on screen.

Overall: This would be a good film to see on video and otherwise save you money.