Word: plot
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Chiles' death provides the needed pause to prevent the plot and historical subtext from spinning out of control. Lee, who has forgotten about Holt's unique story until now, quickly exploits the uneasy relationship between Southern white women and black male slaves. He also finally allows Holt to express his desire for freedom. Similarly, a Bushwacker sympathizer reveals why he believes the North will win, "They fight because they believe everyone should have liberty and freedom. We fight because we care about ourselves." Lee deserves credit for addressing this astute evaluation of the Civil...
...battle so Lee can make some sort of universal claim that war is pointless. However, Roedel and Holt merely receive injuries and miraculously, find themselves at the Shelley farm. Images of Jewel breast-feeding her child again distract the viewer and destroy whatever dramatic tension remains. In a contrived plot twist, Shelley maneuvers herself into matrimonial bliss with Roedel, and she, her new child and Roedel set off to California as Holt journeys to freedom...
...title of Durang's latest work, a perversion (in both senses of the word) of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, seems almost chosen at random from the list of novels that it references. The basic plot of Dostoevsky's famous meditation on being and nothingness (long before Sartre took the patent out on those themes) serves as the starting point of the Durang/Innaurato collaboration: four brothers, tempestuous love, life, death, etc, etc. But it doesn't take long to leave Dostoevsky in the dust as Durang and Innaurato jump full force into the whole of literature since the Book...
...plot loosely follows Asimov's outline. The robot in question, played by Robin Williams, is acquired by the wealthy Martin family. Although they were simply looking for help with the household chores, it quickly becomes clear to the father of the family (Sam Neill) that the robot, which they have named Andrew, has great artistic and intellectual abilities. Andrew also becomes the closest friend of the youngest Martin daughter, known only as "Little Miss" (Embeth Davidtz as an adult). The film progresses, as the title suggests, over 200 years, and in that time Andrew is granted his freedom and embarks...
...heart is Andrew's relationship with four generations of the Martin family, particularly Little Miss and her granddaughter (also played by Davidtz). This story manages to be heartwarming and engaging, as does Andrew's struggle to find his identity. But all of these emotions partially paint over the plot's more intriguing implications. By the second half of the film, when Asimov's grander concepts begin to emerge, Kazan and Columbus too often choose obvious tearjerking over any true exploration. The film's vision of the future is drawn in similar fashion to the plot: sleekly beautiful but not fully...