Robot & Frank

Utterly charming but very slight, Jake Schreier’s debut Robot & Frank is a sweet meditation on ageing, technology and finding friends in the most unexpected of places. Set in the not-too-distant future, Robot & Frank sees the delightful Frank Langella cast off the dark cloak he wore in Frost/Nixon, and instead settle into the comfortable slippers of cantankerous grumpiness. A retired cat burglar in denial about his dementia, Frank’s anxious son (James Marsden) insists that he get a health-care robot.

With Peter Sarsgaard exquisitely providing the mellifluous voice of the earnest Robot, the joy of this film comes from watching the two characters develop an unconventional relationship. The two increasingly animated beings embark on a quest to woo the local librarian Susan Sarandon. Frank’s old skills are also used to undermine the schemes of a soulless technocrat (Jeremy Strong), who dismisses “old-timer” Frank with comments like “You’re so square, you’re practically avant-garde.”
As library books and emotional connections are championed, there’s a warm if overwrought central message about the value of the old and old-fashioned, and the danger of society’s loss of memory as technology advances. At just ninety minutes, the film is too short to build momentum or delve deeply into the issues raised, instead settling to be a delightful acting showcase. Langella is mischievous, stubborn and charmingly impulsive, which makes his moments of quietly panicked disorientation all the more devastating. Marsden’s frustration is endlessly relatable, while Sarandon simply sparkles, despite being the centre of an emotionally cheap revelation.
Heightened by the gorgeous score, Robot & Frank is a thoughtful, beautifully acted film that, ironically, may prove too safe to be memorable.