Robot & Frank (2012)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 120
Fresh: 104 | Rotten: 16
Led by a brilliant performance from star Frank Langella, Robot & Frank works as both a quirky indie drama and as a smart, thoughtful meditation on aging.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 5
Led by a brilliant performance from star Frank Langella, Robot & Frank works as both a quirky indie drama and as a smart, thoughtful meditation on aging.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 18,209
My Rating
Movie Info
Set in the near future, Frank, a retired cat burglar, has two grown kids who are concerned he can no longer live alone. They are tempted to place him in a nursing home until Frank's son chooses a different option: against the old man's wishes, he buys Frank a walking, talking humanoid robot programmed to improve his physical and mental health. What follows is an often hilarious and somewhat heartbreaking story about finding friends and family in the most unexpected places. -- (C) Samuel Goldwyn
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Cast
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Frank Langella
Frank -
Susan Sarandon
Jennifer -
James Marsden
Hunter -
Liv Tyler
Madison -
Peter Sarsgaard
Robot, Robot - Voice -
Jeremy Sisto
Sheriff Rowlings -
Jeremy Strong
Jake -
Peter Saarsgard
Robot (voice)
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Robot & Frank Trailer & Photos
All Critics (120) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (104) | Rotten (17) | DVD (2)
Ultimately, it feels as though the filmmakers have settled for the soft option one too many times, and the result is a pleasant but unmemorable watch.
Top Critic"Robot & Frank" hits all the right notes - romantic, fantastic, tragic and sweet.
There's a warm and poignant interplay between the co-stars.
Langella ... is tremendous.
It may not seem like an even playing field pitting an actor as powerfully intense as Frank Langella opposite a robot, but that's the game plan behind the waywardly endearing, slightly futuristic fantasy Robot & Frank.
Much of Robot & Frank is (frankly) resistible, including the climactic narrative twist, but there is also a likeable oddness that transcends the sentimental contrivance.
Christopher D. Ford's seamless screenplay provides a light-comedy vehicle that Langella rides to a satisfyingly original, epiphanic finale.
The robot gives an ironic twist to Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics", and the movie is highly enjoyably for three quarters of the way.
Explores in subtle and heartbreaking ways how memory becomes a defining part of who were are and where we're going.
Often moving and deeply personal, Robot & Frank is a rewarding - if often underdeveloped - antidote to the plethora of loud and overblown movies that tackle the theme of technology's role in our futures
The film tries to say something coherent about important issues such as the descending darkness of old age but misses the mark with most of them.
A warm drama that drifts into light, goofy comedy, this film is too slight to be a classic, but its subtly sharp-edged script holds our interest and gives the cast something to work with.
A small but perfectly formed tale with plenty to say about the nature of friendship.
The pair's low-key crime spree provides some gentle suspense, but it's the developing friendship between the grouchy ex-thief and the robot that will beguile viewers most.
Despite the amusing premise this isn't funny, moving or eventful enough to merit a trip to the cinema.
Robot & Frank does not quite deliver a killer punch, but it's an engaging, humane fantasy.
Frank Langella forms an engaging double act with a piece of moulded metal alloy in Robot & Frank.
Here's a film with a premise that could have played horrendously in the wrong hands.
A fairly cheap trick towards the denouement aside, this is cutely observed, thoughtful work.
Robot and Frank were electric. The rest? Sheepish.
Enjoyable, well written and superbly acted comedy drama that cleverly blends buddy movies, Sci-Fi flicks and caper pictures into an emotionally engaging film about old age.
Frank Langella subtly provides the heart and soul as the crafty Frank, a game retiree whose disreputable inclinations take the story in a pleasingly unsentimental direction - think Wall-e meets The Thomas Crown Affair.
Frank Langella plays former cat burglar Frank and the 75-year-old actor holds the entire film together with his screen integrity.
While a tad on the slight side, Robot & Frank is a charming, moving and enjoyable indie sci-fi. And the robot is miles better than the one from Rocky IV.
An ageing Frank Langella and a disembodied Peter Sarsgaard make for an unexpectedly dynamic double act in this refreshingly unsentimental geriatric drama. Robust and frank.
Jake Schreier's first feature is a slight story - it's maybe something that could have turned up in an episode of the Twilight Zone - but it's also tender and rather charming.
Audience Reviews for Robot & Frank
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Robot: Warning: Do not molest me.
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- Frank: Can't you do that super fast?
- Robot: Some things take time, Frank.
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- Robot: You should not drink those, Frank. It is not good for gout.
- Frank: I don't have gout.
- Robot: You do not have gout. Yet.
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- Robot: Warning: Do not molest me!
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- Frank: I would rather die eating cheeseburgers than live off of steamed cauliflower.
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- Frank: [to son] That thing's gonna murder me in my sleep.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| spoiler inside: who is susan sarandon? | 52 days ago | 3 |
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Foreign Titles
- Robot & Frank (DE)
- Robot & Frank (UK)
