Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

'Bicentennial Man' was one of Robin Williams' last films in the 90s; possibly his worst decade for film. Despite some major triumphs (Good Will Hunting, Awakenings, Mrs. Doubtfire) Williams also had his fair share of failures (Toys, Jack). In between these were some flicks with great intentions that ultimately flopped (Patch Adams, Father's Day). 'Bicentennial Man' does not really fall into any of these categories because it is not entirely good or bad. Just watch the film for yourself and be the judge and summon your own opinion on this gentle sci-fi picture. The saving grace with any Robin Williams film is Robin Williams (well, Toys is the exception). There are many funny-as-hell people that are also excellent serious actors, but Williams had a way of really reaching deep inside someone's soul and resonating his angelic soul within the viewer. And 'Bicentennial Man' was tailor-made for Williams' true self. He plays a robot named Andrew who is bought to service the Martin family. There are parallels with Andrew and Robin. Sure he's hilarious and talented, but it is his inner self that lingers on. The difference with Andrew and most other robots in movies is his growth to attaining human emotions. He loves the parents (played graciously by Sam Neill and Wendy Crewson), youngest daughter he nicknames "Little Miss", even the older daughter that hates him. They quickly think of him like one of the family, equal to them. The chemistry between Andrew and the family is fantastic. Anybody that says the relationship between Andrew and the family is cheesy and Hallmark-y is dead wrong. It's not just Robin Williams that is owning his part, it's something the entire cast and crew needed to contribute properly. And it works perfectly.Clocking in at over 130 minutes and having a title like "Bicentennial Man" it is obvious that Andrew and the Martin family was not going to happen throughout the duration of this film. But boy, I wish I wish it did. Just over an hour is Andrew and the Martins. I was absolutely loving this. There are some ups and downs in the family, none of which are cheep. There is a scene where Andrew and Little Miss are playing piano and it flashes forward about twenty years, so the flaws that are in this are forgivable. I'm not saying this first hour is perfect, but is sure is wonderful. Following the death of Mr. Martin, I was ready to eject this, thinking it was over and the time went by fast. I was so wrong. After this the movie becomes a run of the mill, equality, Pinocchio, love conquers all movie. The second hour is where the movie becomes the shmaltzy, Garry Marshall, Hallmark movie I was afraid of. He wants independence and to be full human, yadda-yadda-yadda. And this 69 minute portion feels so stretched out. He meets and inventor (another great performance here by Oliver Platt) who holds the keys to Andrew becoming as human as can be. Now the Hallmark stuff gets put on hold for some fascinating robotic innovations and wickedly cool filming. This closes the chapter of seeing Andrew looking like a robot and Andrew looking like Robin. While the special effects were cool, the progession of the story become more cliched. I know I've said numerous times how corny the second half is, but I can't stress it enough. After a long dry-spell from Little Miss, Andrew returns to surprise her with his humanoid expterior. Adult Little Miss is played by Embeth Davitz, as is her granddaughter. A romance blossoms between Andrew and this fourth generation woman. It is even cheesier than the romance in the recent 'Shape of Water.' By the end credits I went back and skimmed a few seconds from the beginning, baffled to think such a wonderful movie ended up so lousy. But, I have a talented actor to thank for helping me make it through this movie. 'Bicentennial Man' isn't entirely bad. Even some parts in the bad half are saved by excellent filming. They were nominated for an Oscar, a win would not have been a big deal. But the poor writing almost completely overclouds this aspect. If you are a huge fan of Robin Williams, then I recommend giving it a watch. If not, I recommend watching the lovely first half and stopping once Mr. Martin passes away. That is what I will do from now on.6.5/10 (rounded up)

"Bicentennial Man" received an Oscar nomination for makeup, and that certainly was deserved. The costuming for Robin Williams as the robot, Andrew Martin, is quite exceptional. But that's about all that I found interesting in this film. The script is slow to the point that many in the Martin family seem to pause to think about what they are going to say next. That makes the acting seem weak, especially with Sam Neill. The effort to make Richard Martin and others appear to be very thoughtful instead drags the action out. And the film drags on and on. The plot is not original, although it develops the theme further than earlier sci-fi films. Still, the idea of a robot becoming human just escapes me because it defies all logic and science. So, for some, this may be an enjoyable film as science fiction in which a robot reaches near that point. It tries very hard to grab the audience by tugging at their heartstrings with emotional scenes.Some strange things about this film got my attention. First was the math the writers used and the ages of the characters. The robot, Andrew was made in 2005. He lived for 200 years. Little Miss was about five or six in 2005. But her granddaughter, Portia, is Andrew's love many years later. When Andrew dies at 200, Portia is about 80. That means that there were about 65 years between the generations and thus, the average ages at which each person in the link conceived the next person. So, Little Miss would have been 60 to 65 when she gave birth to Portia's mother or father, who in turn would have been 60 to 65 when Portia was born. And, if Portia was alive as a young girl when Little Miss died, Little Miss would have been more than 125 years old.The second strange thing is the portrayal of the space age vehicles early in the film - by the time Richard Martin dies. Figuring him for another 45 years after 2005, that would mean we will be flying our space cars by 2050. It's sci-fi, of course, but does anyone think that such space travel will be likely by then-or even another century or more after this? Man landed on the moon in 1969, but in nearly five decades since then, our space abilities have been limited to global satellites and unmanned deep space probes. The first progressive sci-fi films had us shuttling between homes and offices as shown in this film, by about 2010, as I recall. We are still decades, if not centuries, off the Space Odyssey projected for 2001 by the 1968 movie.

This is an excellent movie. It didn't follow Asimov's story, but it went in the same direction. The actors were superb and affecting in their roles. Robin, Embeth and Sam (to be familiar and brief) nailed their parts and had me believing in their characters. Oliver Platt was also excellent as the robot/android scientist. It's one of my favorite movies however... Two regrets: 1- This movie is STILL not on BluRay! AI finally came out in that format, but if you want to see this movie in hi def you have to stream it. 2- The soundtrack has James Horner's background music and beautiful "You Look at Me" w/ Celine Dion but hot the other popular songs covered by other artists. They were done beautifully as well and should have been included. I don't understand the problem with studios not catering to the likes of audiences instead of their own legal and profit-driven short-sighted interests. They'd make more profits if they aligned their products with the public's likes instead of their own statistics or industrial expectations. Nevertheless, this is a great movie and one of Robin Williams' best. It's also true SF, not SciFi, which is monster and space battle driven. SF is idea driven.

the emotions are pillars of this lovely modern fairy tale. because it is only version of the old myth of Pygmalion. because it could be an useful reflection of the struggle of different minorities for be accepted. because it represents a nice meeting between Isaac Asimov text and the art of Robin Williams. it is strange to define it more than trip in future and to remember old lectures. it preserves the flavor of childhood. its dreams, stories, desires and projects. its bitter steps to the self definition. its sweet romanticism. its silhouettes from a time of precise rules and noble feelings and the chosen. humor, delicacy, few splendid scenes, version of Pinocchio and, maybe, for a part of its public, homage to Collodi.in more measure than adaptation of Asimov. a nice film. and embroidery of emotions. .