BICENTENNIAL MAN

You will find a lot to like here. Bicentennial Man has heart, humor, imagination, superb acting, beautiful settings, and direction that makes the first two-thirds entertaining. Its strongest material follows Andrew as he discovers that he is unique, learns to care, and realizes that love and family matter more than freedom or fame.

The problem is that the movie joins several storylines without developing them into one coherent whole. Its later sections become preachy about Andrew’s desire to be considered human, interpreting humanity and love through sexual gratification and a politically correct message about interspecies marriage. That shift undermines the movie’s better and more redemptive elements.

If your older children can process the film’s sexual material and worldview concerns, it is worth discussing together. For younger children, choose something else. The practical answer is: watch it with older children and adults, using discernment.

In the near future, the Martin family receives Andrew, a robot played by Robin Williams. Andrew is unlike other robots: he learns, cares, creates, and forms a special bond with the family.

As Andrew becomes more aware of himself and the world around him, he must decide what freedom means, where he belongs, and what it means to be like his creators. His search eventually leads him toward questions of love, humanity, and mortality.

Three stars means this is a likeable movie that almost succeeds. It has heart, humor, and imagination, with superb direction, acting, and settings. Robin Williams gives Andrew a distinctive personality, while Sam Neill is especially strong as Richard Martin.

The first two-thirds are entertaining and emotionally engaging. Then the storyline seems to jump the track. The movie unintentionally links several storylines together, and the later material feels less intelligent and less wisely developed than the beginning. A more focused story could have made this terrific.

The film explores what happens when a creation wants to become like its creators. Andrew is not merely a machine: he learns, cares, creates, seeks freedom, values family, falls in love, and wants to share the human experience, including death.

That idea gives the movie some moral and redemptive strength. Andrew discovers that love and family matter more than freedom or fame. The film also reflects themes from Frankenstein, though its created being does not turn against his creator. Instead, Andrew wants to become human.

The worldview becomes less sound as the story develops. Andrew learns to curse, drink, and have sex. The movie presents humanity in terms of sexual fulfillment and argues that every species has the potential to be human, including a robot. Its politically correct message about interspecies marriage undermines the better aspects of the story. The ending also includes a vague New Age implication that Andrew continues somewhere after death.

The film’s central question is what makes a person human. Scripture answers that human beings are created by God in His image: “So God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). The movie’s longing for humanity and mortality points toward that truth, even as its account of human identity departs from it.

Bicentennial Man has genuine heart, humor, and imagination, but its later storylines and worldview concerns weaken the whole. For older children and adults prepared to discuss its sexual and New Age elements, it is WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS. For younger children, choose another film.