Robot and Frank blurb  

Originally posted as a “Netflix Pick” word blurb written for the UWM Post here: http://uwmpost.com/october-netflix-picks-from-stars-hollow-to-california/

Robot & Frank

This film features an aging retired jewel thief. His kids have their own problems and as a gesture, give him a robot caretaker. Frank Langella is fantastic as Frank, an elderly subject who has an initial distaste for his new lurking automaton. That changes though when he decides to get back in the game. The robot, understanding that crime is a cognitive stimulate, plays along.

One of the great things about the movie “Her” was that it introduced many people to pedestrian science fiction. Science fiction is not just space ships, explosions, and rubber masks. “Robot & Frank” ​is a story set in a world much like ours. Today many people read on tablets, phones, and other devices. Robots assist doctors in hospitals and no one has used a paper map in over six years. A place, like the one found in “Robot & Frank,” is one where libraries almost all die, is not so farfetched. The movie takes a few present day technologies and extends them just barely into the realm of fiction.

But like “Her,” “Robot & Frank” is not content to just have science fiction elements. It rings human cords and tells a story that is more heart than bang-zoom technological wizardry. The movie presents the perspective of the elderly in science fiction. It is a wonderful exploration and one that happens too rarely. “Robot & Frank” is for people who are interested in a charming, near-future, low key caper. I highly recommend it.”

-Matt Heimiller