Robot and Frank

I heard that this one got picked up by a studio, so you can expect to see it in theaters sometime this year. 

If I had to summarize this one, I'd say it's a buddy/heist movie. Frank Langella is an aging cat burglar who is given a caregiver robot because his memory is slowly leaking away. There is a heartbreaking opening scene that watches Frank break into a home, looking for valuables. While ransacking the house, he sees a picture of himself there and realizes that he has been breaking into his own home. This endeared me to Frank, as I found myself lamenting his lack of control. 

This sets the stage for Frank's loneliness, which is the most prominent theme in the movie. Frank is a 30 year divorcee who has painful relationships with his children due to his past prison time. Because he is so distant from everyone in his life, it is fitting that a robot slowly becomes his friend. It would seem that two cold individuals would pair well together, but the robot is actually the more human of the two. Frank is harsh and inconsiderate while the robot's primary function is Frank's health. The robot's care for Frank softens him some, in a fashion re-humanizing Frank.

Without spoiling too much, I will tell you that Frank convinces the robot to participate in a heist, giving Frank's life some much needed purpose again. Keep your eyes peeled for hints of belonging (as opposed to loneliness) as well as the metaphor in the robot's garden…I promise that will make sense when you see it.

The downside of this movie is that it has a taste of wrapping up too neatly. I think it would have finished better if its ending were a little less Hollywood. There are a few things that go unexplained and the audience is left with filling in the gaps of how we got there, because it doesn't seem to finish there naturally. I would have preferred a more disheartening ending, as that seems to fit Frank's character.