By CHRIS GLADDEN SPECIAL TO
The Roanoke Times

Archives Reprint

   "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" is Steven Spielberg's darker, deeper expedition into the world of lost boys. It's a futuristic fairy tale that casts its net over "Pinocchio," "The Wizard of Oz," "Citizen Kane" and many of of Spielberg's own movies. Though it's a fantasy, it's closer in tone to his "Empire of the Sun" than to "Hook." Yearning and melancholy are such powerful forces in the movie they tend to divert attention from the movie's awkward explanations and constructions. Spielberg wrote and directed this labor of love, and his strengths and weaknesses as a filmmaker are on ample display (as often as not, they're one and the same). He's not known for subtle touches down the stretch, but he sure can compose an indelible visual image.

    By all accounts, the filming of this yarn (based on a Brian Aldiss short story) was an ambition Stanley Kubrick entertained for years. Before his death, he enlisted Spielberg in the project. The result is both an homage to Kubrick's style and a rumination on separation and love with a lot of philosopholical and ethical underpinnings.

    The story takes place in a future marked by environmental catastrophe. Great cities have been wiped out by flooding, and population control to preserve resources is mandated. Robots, called mechas, are used for a variety of purposes, from household servants to sex toys. They're life-like but emotionless.

    A scientist played by William Hurt develops a mecha that's hard-wired to feel love, however. He's a little boy called David, and he's carefully placed with a couple whose own son is in a coma. The father, played by Sam Robards, brings David home in an attempt to coax his wife out of her despondency.

    The mother, played by Frances O'Connor, is at first reluctant but she begins to warm to David on the trial run. All she has to do is say seven words and he will love her for life. Haley Joel Osment plays David, and he gives a performance so pure that it shines through the movie's confusions of style and intent.

    Once David is programmed to love his human mother, nothing will divert him from that love. When Martin, the human child, regains consciousness, David finds himself in the role of an elaborate toy. He's a playmate that makes Martin jealous and even endangers the boy. The mother feels forced to abandon David and the mecha with a human's emotions believes he can only regain his mother's love by becoming a real boy.

    Here, the "Pinocchio" story goes into full swing as David searches out the Blue Fairy. His journey takes him to an arena spectacle where mechas are destroyed for the amusement of humans; to the Rouge City where he consults a wizard; and on to a New York City mostly submerged in water. Accompanying him are a mecha gigolo played by Jude Law and a cuddly and wise robotic Teddy bear.

    Spielberg divides the movie into three segments. The first segment introduces David and his family, and its visual style looks vintage Kubrick, with lots of pale light and fluid movement. The second segment is more of a Spielberg adventure, with obligatory chases and elaborate sets. The last segment is Spielberg in his science-fiction mode. The fact that each segment is so distinct doesn't speak well for this as a seamless story. But it's a complex meditation that on its most basic level deals with love, the soul and all those things that make us human.

    Even when Spielberg's story doesn't hang together and his more overt attempts at audience manipulation begin to irritate, these themes soldier on in the capable form of the littlest mecha.

    A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

    HHH

    A DreamWorks production at Carmike 10; the Grandin Theater and Valley View Grande 16. Rated PG-13 for violence and sexual content.

   Two hours and 25 minutes.

    3 Stars:

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