Review of Robot & Frank (2012) by Qi Z — 13 Dec 2013

"Robot & Frank", an independent film starring Frank Langella. It imagines a future where robotic domestic helpers are able to perform certain care for elders. Given Frank Langella's tenure as a seasoned theater actor, you know that it won't go all gooey and soupy. But it has a surprising core of emotion. How much of being human requires certain range of emotional responses from others? It may surprise many that some of us function well within a range -- too much or too little won't do. A man could be closed off from his children's over-anxious fussing, but would be open to a non-being who has only programmed responses. Close human contacts come with many positives and negatives, or simply too loud and demanding in emotional expenditure and tuning.

It is surprising how moving an simple story can be. Robot: "You know you are alive, I know I am not a alive. Go ahead, reformat my memory". Then the machine boy leans over to let Frank to reset the memory chip. It is one of the most poignant moments in the film. By projecting our thoughts and actions to the world (such as toward the Robot), we experience life; but the power lies in hearing the echo -- however faint, however programmed (as by the Robot) -- we experience feeling. It is not just life but the life of the feeling that makes and breaks our human hearts.