Robot & Frank Directed by: Jake Schreier
Written by: Christopher D. Ford
Starring Frank Langella, Peter Sarsgaard, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Jeremy Strong
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Rated PG-13 | 90 Minutes
Release Date: August 24, 2012
I don’t know much about Jack Schreier. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like anyone else does, either. According to IMDb, Schreier is the ex-keyboardist for Francis and the Lights, a pop-synth indie band that has toured with the likes of Drake, MGMT, and Ke$ha.
Aside from Robot & Frank, Schreier’s only other directorial credit is a 2005 short film, Christopher Ford Sees a Film, in which Christopher D. Ford (Robot & Frank‘s writer) sees a terrible film that presumably affects him deeply. As for Ford’s work as a screenwriter, he’s got a couple of projects in the works, including Eli Roth’s Grindhouse-inspired horror slasher, Thanksgiving.
I say all this only because it is extremely rare to watch a smart, thoughtful, and altogether well-made film like Robot & Frank and discover it was the feature-length debut of an earnest, young filmmaker and a no-doubt talented scribe. There are plenty of great first films by directors, but Robot & Frank feels like the work of an established, tenured filmmaker – someone who has matured and refined his style through other films.
The premise of Schreier and Ford’s film is simple, and delightfully so. Set in the near future, Frank, an ex-convict and master thief (Frank Langella), receives a gift from his son, Hunter (James Marsden): a robot butler programmed to look after him.
After watching the first trailer for Cloud Atlas for the first time, it was clear that this was going to be a very ambitious movie. In that trailer we saw actors playing multiple roles in six intersecting stories that span many generations from the Victorian era to a technologically sophisticated futuristic Korea.
Now, a much shorter more theatrically fitting trailer has appeared online. Check it out here below.
There is some new footage that has been included in this video, although it doesn’t really hamper or spoil the movie since they are just quick glimpses. I actually think that the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer are playing this one close to the vest and the first trailer they released is the real meat of the promotions, the rest they are holding off on until they release Cloud Atlas.
Submitted for your approval are the five films I believe in my heart of hearts to be the essentials of Tony Scott’s unusual but beloved and rewarding filmography. If your knowledge of the man’s work doesn’t extend beyond his ability to make Tom Cruise look good in the cockpit of a fighter jet and the front seat of a battered stock car then you might find this list worth a read.
Nine out of 10 movie trailers contain a lot of spoilers. Consider the first trailer for Cloud Atlas to be the one trailer that doesn’t spoil anything. Yes, the trailer that almost very film enthusiast has have been waiting to see has finally made its debut online, and it is absolutely breathtaking. We also got a fancy little flash player that contains 20 new images from the film. Check it out below.
By all accounts it’s hard to imagine trying to come up with trailer for a movie like Cloud Atlas, since it is based on a story with multiple characters tied together by six generational stories. Yet, it has been done in such a fascinating way, that it doesn’t even spoil the movie. And it all ends with the emotionally fitting Outro by M83.
The last time I saw such wonderful chemistry between a human and a robot was Duncan Jones’ Moon. While Frank and Robot doesn’t possess the same dark tones that Moon had, it does have a lighter and more whimsy look at the relationship between man and machine. Since the film was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, I have been waiting to see some form of footage from it. Now, Samuel Goldwyn Films has released the first trailer for the film, which you can check out below.
Based on the reviews I have read and the trailer that I just saw, Robot and Frank has a lot of heart, and there is just enough tomfoolery in the film to keep me interested. In it Frank, an aging jewel thief, is given a robot caretaker. When he finds a reason to take up the crime he retired from, he trains his robot caretaker in the craft of stealing jewels.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press