Bicentennial Man
Rent & Buy
Richard Martin buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew by the youngest of the family's children. "Bicentennial Man" follows the life and times of Andrew, a robot purchased as a household appliance programmed to perform menial tasks. As Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought, the Martin family soon discovers they don't have an ordinary robot.
What critics thought
DivisiveCritics found Bicentennial Man a frustrating misfire — a film with genuine ambition that collapses under mawkish sentiment and a script that grows increasingly inert as it goes on. Audiences were warmer, grading it considerably higher than the press, suggesting the film's emotional sincerity lands better outside critical circles.
“Bicentennial Man begins with promise, proceeds in fits and starts, and finally sinks into a cornball drone of greeting-card sentiment. Robin Williams spends the first half of the film encased in a metallic robot suit, and when he emerges, the script turns robotic instead. What a letdown”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“an ambitious tale handled in a dawdling, sentimental way”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“[The film] becomes a somber, sentimental and rather profound romantic fantasy that is more true to the spirit of the Golden Age of science-fiction writing than possibly any other movie of the '90s”
William Arnold·Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- mild
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- mild
Genres
Science Fiction, Drama
Cast & Crew
Chris ColumbusDirector
Robin WilliamsAndrew
Embeth DavidtzLittle Miss / Portia
Sam NeillSir
Oliver PlattRupert Burns
Kiersten WarrenGalatea Robotic / Human
Wendy CrewsonMa'am
Hallie EisenbergLittle Miss 7 yrs. old
Lindze LethermanMiss 9 yrs. old
Angela LandisMiss
John Michael HigginsBill Feingold
Bradley WhitfordLloyd
James HornerComposer
Nicholas KazanWriter
Robert SilverbergWriter
Isaac AsimovWriter
Phil MeheuxCinematographyBicentennial Man
Richard Martin buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew by the youngest of the family's children. "Bicentennial Man" follows the life and times of Andrew, a robot purchased as a household appliance programmed to perform menial tasks. As Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought, the Martin family soon discovers they don't have an ordinary robot.
What critics thought
DivisiveCritics found Bicentennial Man a frustrating misfire — a film with genuine ambition that collapses under mawkish sentiment and a script that grows increasingly inert as it goes on. Audiences were warmer, grading it considerably higher than the press, suggesting the film's emotional sincerity lands better outside critical circles.
“Bicentennial Man begins with promise, proceeds in fits and starts, and finally sinks into a cornball drone of greeting-card sentiment. Robin Williams spends the first half of the film encased in a metallic robot suit, and when he emerges, the script turns robotic instead. What a letdown”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“an ambitious tale handled in a dawdling, sentimental way”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“[The film] becomes a somber, sentimental and rather profound romantic fantasy that is more true to the spirit of the Golden Age of science-fiction writing than possibly any other movie of the '90s”
William Arnold·Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- mild
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- mild
Genres
Science Fiction, Drama
Cast & Crew
Chris ColumbusDirectorRobin WilliamsAndrewEmbeth DavidtzLittle Miss / PortiaSam NeillSirOliver PlattRupert BurnsKiersten WarrenGalatea Robotic / HumanWendy CrewsonMa'amHallie EisenbergLittle Miss 7 yrs. oldLindze LethermanMiss 9 yrs. oldAngela LandisMissJohn Michael HigginsBill FeingoldBradley WhitfordLloydJames HornerComposerNicholas KazanWriterRobert SilverbergWriterIsaac AsimovWriterPhil MeheuxCinematographyRent & Buy