TheRetroCritic

Based on a novella (and a novel) by sci-fi maestro Isaac Asimov, Bicentennial Man had one wacky premise to work with and it sure rolled with it: a robot butler living for 200 years and, in that time, becoming a living, breathing human being. Robin Williams stars as Andrew, the candid android bought by Sam Neill's family and, for a good portion of the film, he is in full robot attire looking like an old-fashioned automaton you'd see in a comic strip from the 50's. And, as odd as that sounds, seeing as the film is set in the not-so-distant future of 2005, that adds some retro charm to the film. Since Bicentennial Man, of course, spans a heck of a lot of years, the movie approaches Andrew's story a little like Forrest Gump as we skip through the years, occasionally checking in on what the android is up to. The character is pretty naive throughout, even if he does grow gradually and, by the end of the movie you do feel like he's been through a lot. That said, the