Film review: Robot & Frank

Cert: 12A
Out now

In the near future, Frank, a retired burglar, is becoming increasingly forgetful. His family, worried that he's going senile, buy Frank a robot helper. At first, Frank is very resistant to any technological assistance... until he realises that a conscience-free robot could help resurrect his unlawful career in burglary.

This is a very unusual movie. It's a science-fiction film yet the world is very similar to ours, with a few notable advances in technology. It's a film about family relationships and yet they mostly don't seem to care very much for each other. It's a film about an ex-con and yet he doesn't seem to regret or repent of his unlawful past. Most of all it's a film that heart-breakingly details a man struggling with the onset of old age and a failing mind.

But don't be fooled, Robot & Frank is funny. Very funny. The humour and the superb acting (particularly by Frank Langella in the title role) have you rooting for a character you can't entirely empathise with. So much so that you barely notice that many of the main characters really aren't that moral at all. This floating moral compass helps keep the film far from predictable. And yet it also raises questions about what we're happy to accept, ethically, as we lap up entertainment. As believers, we shouldn't shut ourselves away from the world's views and morals — we need to be aware of them so we can interact with them. And yet it's so easy to just accept them when they're encapsulated so entertainingly.

Robot & Frank is a unique and brilliant little film. I'm happy to recommend it as a comedy, a thriller and as an eye-opening account of one man's journey into old age. But I also recommend that you keep your eyes and ears open to the shifting morals we see on screen and sometimes accept unquestioningly.