The story of Barney, an awkward middle-schooler, and Ron, his new walking, talking, digitally connected device. Ron’s malfunctions set against the backdrop of the social media age launch them on a journey to learn about true friendship.
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” follows Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer), a lonely middle schooler, who is seemingly the only kid in his town without a B-bot. When it’s his birthday, his dad surprises him with one, but the robot he gets is defective. Barney names the robot Ron (Zach Galifianakis) and the two embark on an adventure and learn what friendship really means.
In this social media age plus the current pandemic, more kids than ever are feeling lonely. There’s an increased reliance on phones and social media apps in order to stay connected. However, that use of tech mostly just increases that sense of loneliness as interactions are reduced to comments and likes.
The company dominating this world is named Bubble and has two figureheads modeled after Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. The Steve Jobs-type character is named Andrew (Rob Delaney), he is the greedy corporate mogul who’s not afraid to break ethical rules in order to save his company’s credibility and reputation. The Mark Zuckerberg type character is also coincidentally named Marc (Justice Smith), but he is a young, well-meaning creator who wants his invention to do good in the world.
What’s confusing about this film is that it showcases the dangers of how targeted, personalized digital spaces can create isolation and break real-life connectivity apart. The film advocates for in-person friendships, but it still uses Ron, a robot with no real coding or safety implementations, to instigate those friendships.
My logline mentions the film, “The Mitchells vs the Machines” and while that film is more about family than friendship, it still tackles the similar themes shown in “Ron’s Gone Wrong.” Themes like feeling like an outcast, having trouble finding friends, and a high-class tech company’s latest invention going horribly wrong were just more well-executed in “Mitchells.”
However, I do think kids will enjoy this film. Zack Galifianakis is great as the voice of Ron and his character’s antics can be quite amusing to watch. Plus, Barney’s relationship with Ron is quite heartwarming, although I thought the animation style was pretty bland.
Overall, “Ron’s Gone Wrong” missed the mark for me. While the film highlights many important aspects of the dangers of addiction to technology and how big media companies need to be regulated, the use of Ron muddles its message. At the end of the day, I am much more inclined to re-watch “The Mitchells vs the Machines” than check out “Ron’s Gone Wrong” again.
Now available on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ & DVD, and on Digital HD December 15th
