Frank Langella’s performance in Robot & Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older. Langella’s character Frank lives an isolated retirement in upstate New York, and he is experiencing some symptoms consistent with the early onset of dementia. Naturally, his adult kids are worried. The story takes place in the near future, so his son helpfully provides Frank with robotic personal healthcare assistant. Frank resists, and this is where, in lesser hands, Robot & Frank could have become just another comedy about a crusty old curmudgeon.
But the focus of Robot & Frank is deeper than that – it’s about an older person’s strategy to accept, resist, deny or adapt to the various ravages of becoming older. As the robot institutes a daily routine with improved diet and exercise, Frank becomes less addled. With his new-found lucidity, he can now try to resist aging by making some new goals. It turns out that Frank’s career was as a cat burglar – and he would prefer to be only semi-retired – so….
It’s an enlightening exploration, which becomes more profound when a fact is revealed very late in the film.
The supporting cast, including the always appealing Susan Sarandon, is very good. The sardonically detached Peter Sarsgaard was the perfect choice to voice the robot. Jeremy Strong is very good as a particularly despicable yuppie.
The trailer makes Robot & Frank appear lighter than it is. It is a funny movie, but also has some heft.
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