Fave Films of the Century So Far - 2012 - Robot & Frank

The near future. Frank lives alone and his family are worrying about him. Age has come knocking on his door and it's brought dementia as an unwanted guest. Frank's a stubborn aul' boy and he's going nowhere so to help him out his son buys him a robotic helper to do the chores he can't anymore. Frank doesn't like it. He's old school and this robotic interloper is suspicious. Until the day he realises the robot will literally do anything for him. Unlike humans this robot has no moral code. This appeals massively to Frank. Because, in a former life Frank was a cat burglar and a damned good one at that. And now he spies a way back to what he was once best at.

Robot & Frank is an absolute joy. When it came out it instantly went under the radar meaning not many got to see and let alone hear of it. It's a pity because it's one of those beautiful little films that has universal appeal. There's no sex, violence or huge CGI explosions. It's a wonderfully human tale of someone reconnecting with the past in an effort to try and stave off the inexorable march of time and Frank Langella in the lead sells it all perfectly. A veteran with a 56 year acting career behind him. It's a rare lead for him and and even rarer one where he gets to play a nice person. As such he grabs the part with both hands and tucks in.

A perfect 2 minutes that almost could be it's own short story. Frank antsy as hell and Robot (voiced perfectly by Peter Saarsgard) maddeningly calm. We see how easy Robot can take control of Frank's day but the joy of this film is the way Frank regains his own agency and how willing Robot is to help. It's one of the sweetest, quirkiest and funniest films you've never heard of and it's my favourite film of 2012. It's so worth tracking down.

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