[yasr_overall_rating]
The world’s first “perfect” Artificial Intelligence begins to exhibit startling and unnerving emergent behavior when a reporter begins a relationship with the scientist who created it.
“Uncanny” aspires to join the ranks of other AI-themed classics such as “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Blade Runner” and even “The Terminator.” Not in thematic scope you understand, rather, in its narrative construct, no pun intended. While it is most certainly to be commended for its occasional sparks of originality, as a whole, the story moves along at such a lethargic pace, by the time the ‘surprise’ finale is divulged, you literally find yourself unimpressed. And that is not the actor’s faults, that transgression lies squarely on the shoulders of the film’s director, Matthew Leutwyler. He wants you to care about the characters herein but as the story unfolds, they spend more time talking about robotics, electronic components and natural language processing that there is hardly any room left for character development and what expansion in that area is achieved, literally pales in comparison to the legitimate-sounding, scientific jargon.
When Joy Andrews (Lucy Griffiths), a reporter for a large technology magazine is invited to spend a week interviewing reclusive but brilliant scientist David Kressen (Mark Webber) at his home, she jumps at the opportunity. Having graduated from MIT with a BS in Computer Science and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, all at age 19, he is considered one of the world’s smartest men but keeps himself isolated from everyone, preferring to work from home. Upon meeting him, he gives her a tour of his home, which also serves as his workplace and then introduces her to Adam (David Clayton Rogers) who he claims is his assistant.
Not really wanting to talk to Adam, after all, her assignment is David, she obliges him and as their conversation grows, she realizes that he might just be as smart as David. Unaware of who Adam really is, she is astonished when told that he is a robot, one that resembles a human, sounds like a human but was created with machine parts and artificial intelligence.
As day one fades away and the rest of the week gradually passes by, David and Joy form a connection and when Adam realizes this, he begins to exhibit strange behavior. When he is rude towards Joy, he is scolded by David and apologizes but eventually, David comprehends that Adam is beginning to learn at an exponential rate, more than he had expected and he and Joy must carefully plan their actions, if they are to escape with their lives.
I give cinematographer Ross Richardson kudos for shooting “Uncanny” conventionally but beautifully, utilizing plenty of wide angles and numerous slow tracking shots but either he or director Matthew Leutwyler almost ruin this pristine look by adding a plethora of unnecessary lens flares, glaring lights that fill the screen for no apparent reason other than they obviously thought it “looked cool.” If I want to watch a movie filled with needless lens flares, I’ll watch “Star Trek” thank you very much.
The overall appearance and atmosphere of “Uncanny” are the film’s most commendable attributes and while the acting is fine, particularly from Lucy Griffiths, the combination of sci-fi, AI and human interaction, just doesn’t compute.
Available on DVD November 3rd
