Thoughts: I had an old friend named Brice. We met in our early teens in high school, I'm fairly certain it was the first year of high school in Shailer Park, Brisbane. We bonded over nerd stuff, video games, books, anime and just generally each others company. He was an only child from a divorced family, living with his mother and rarely seeing his father. He was quite sardonic, rather sarcastic, and never afraid to speak his mind when he felt something was incorrect or when someone was being Contradictory. Generally this came out as a cynical statement of confusion at what the person was saying or doing call my delivered in a way that showed he didn't exactly know what to do to fix it but he was aware that it made no sense. As time wore on, his general grade Depression expanded, and although he had no trouble with the ladies, he had a lot of trouble accepting himself. I learned in our mid 20s to 30s that he developed a drinking problem, and he lived by himself while working in various writing professions.
Brice was a massive fan of animation. Video games and
animation. I never got to the depth of what he probably was into, as we drifted
apart over the years during my marriage and work and family commitments,
however he always knew what the good stuff was and wasn't ashamed of liking
what he did, and we shared a love of such things as Cartoon Network classics,
unusual works like over the garden wall, and the more cartoonish works like
Adventure Time. I did come to understand over the years that Brice would jump
from obsession to obsession, diving into comics, then Japanese superheroes,
then pro wrestling. I would meet up with him and he would be gushing about a
particular hobby and then a year later I would meet up with him again and there
would be a new hobby to gush about, whereas any mention of the previous hobby
would be cast aside and spoken of with derision and disdain.
I mention Brice because not only does Robot Dreams feature a
generally good natured but rather flighty self-defeating lead character stuck
in a serious depressive funk, trying to connect with someone- anyone-
emotionally, but also is built on the back of a fantastic soundtrack and an art
style that I immediately felt he would greatly appreciate.
As mentioned, Dog is stuck in a frozen dinner, single
player, apartment dwelling subsistence, watching late night commercials to pass
the time, when suddenly he sees an advertisement for a robot companion. In short
time, the build your own robot kit arrives, and after some heavy lifting and
construction, Dog and the child-like, ever curious, eternally positive Robot
happily venture out into 1980s New York City to experience the sights and
sounds. Unfortunately a trip to the beach goes awry and Robot is stuck for an
entire season in the sand, experiencing all the negative actions of a world
that could care less for someone in need. Meanwhile, Dog’s attempts to rescue Robot
from his stationary fate are met with roadblocks at every turn, and he resigns
himself to attempting to rebuild his life while waiting for the weather to
shift.
I was hoping this film would be dialogue free and it turns
out it was, leaving me a happy camper since I am a sucker for a dialogue free
visual experience. I'm a massive fan of the silent film era, and can thoroughly
appreciate good editing and expressive performances to tell a story. I was
concerned that robot dreams would have a hard time filling out the one hour and
43 minutes, however my fears were allayed as the credits rolled. The experience
is an enjoyable and an emotional one, with a variety of characters and
situations painted across the screen in true 1980s splendour. The animal cast a
decked out in fluro lycra and roller skates, the beaches are jam packed with
families sunning themselves, with humorous moments peppered throughout the
runtime. There's a lot to love here, and altogether a worthwhile experience
with Earth, Wind & Fire's fabulous September the backbone and bookend to
the whole experience. Of particular note is the sequence with the birds and
robot nesting together on the lonely beach, offering cute learning sequences
and beautiful music. The character of Robot is the beautiful optimist against Dog’s
mild self centeredness, however the nature of all our idiosyncrasies is what
makes the film.
I'd say it's a good film to leave on in the background, with
music or without. I wonder if Brice likes the film?
7/10
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