If a robot spends enough time around humans, can he learn to become one of them? The Martin family purchases a domestic android as a servant and names him Andrew (Robin Williams). Andrew comes to know the man of the house as Sir (Sam Neill), his wife as Ma'am Wendy Crewson, and their daughter as Portia (Embeth Davidtz); before long, the Martins suspect that they do not have an ordinary robot on their hands. Andrew seems capable of expressing emotion and generating original thoughts, and the
longer he stays with the Martins, the more strongly these human traits manifest themselves. Over the next 200 years, Andrew becomes less a machine and more a member of the family, until a mechanic (Oliver Platt) tells Andrew that he might be able to turn him into a human being. Based on a short story by renowned science fiction author Isaac Asimov (surprisingly, it's only the second Asimov story to be brought to the screen), Bicentennial Man was directed by Chris Columbus, who previously worked with Robin Williams on Mrs. Doubtfire. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Columbus lays on the sentimentality thickly, sometimes letting it get in the way of the storytelling. The longer the movie continues, the more overt he becomes in his emotional pandering.
By relegating the story to a disappointing level of superficiality and never attempting to venture more than skin-deep into some intriguing themes, Bicentennial Man comes across like recycled, diluted Star Trek.
Virtually every emotion, motivation, idea, character and plot point in the movie is flat and perfunctory -- except for those that carry the invisible subtitle, 'Cry, dammit!'
You long for [Williams] to break the metal mold, if only for a minute, to remind you that you are watching the best improvisational comedian of this millennium.
Becomes a somber, sentimental and rather profound romantic fantasy that is more true to the spirit of the Golden Age of science-fiction writing than possibly any other movie of the '90s.
This movie sucks the life out of you, turning you into a robot. Seriously I am tired of all these robot movies where we're supposed to feel bad for them, try to make them more human, etc. And Williams is more than annoying trying to play one of these annoying robots. I didn't find this touching or heartwarming, I
didn't find it funny or enjoyable, I just hated it. I don't recommend this movie.
hands down, Robin Williams best film. the character Andrew is likable and you feel all the things he goes through, the pain joy and all other emotions. The film has a very touching story how he loves all the people he serves and how he feels pain for losing them and how he can't die. one line Andrew says truely shows
the emotions you feel for him "it is torture that you can cry and i can't." The ending is one of the few movie moments that actually make me cry.
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