'I'm Your Man' Review: Dan Stevens And Maren Eggert Turn The Usual Human-Robot Companion Theme Upside Down

Arlington TX

26 September, 2021

12:47 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report September 25, 2021 Algorithms have taken over the world. Now if the scientists in Michael Crichton's "Westworld" had invented them (and Norton Antivirus) then maybe things would have worked out better at Delos. In "I'm Your Man" the Terrareca company seems to have worked out most of the glitches for their prototype, a robot named Tom (Dan Stevens) who looks, acts, and sounds like the real thing. He's been programmed to suit the needs of Alma (Maren Eggert), a researcher who doesn't believe in artificial love, yet she's forced to take him home as an experiment in order to obtain more funding for her work. German director Maria Schrader's pleasant romantic comedy hits all the right notes. Based on the short story "Ich bindein Mensch" by Emma Braslavsky and written by Jan Schomburg, the film's light tone is a welcomed relief especially after scores of robosexual films that include "Ex Machina," "Blade Runner," and "The Stepford Wives" which prove that humans and androids don't mix. Although Frau Farbissina's Fembots seemed very tempting until machine guns protruded from their bras, a major buzzkill. With "I'm Your Man" we are treated to a romantic comedy featuring two irresistible leads. Dan Stevens from "Downton Abbey" is so charming that I fell in love with him (and I'm heterosexual) which caused me to blurt out "What's her problem?" several times as Eggert's human character kept resisting robotic Stevens' charming advances. Maren Eggert, best known for playing Frieda Jung in the German TV series "Tatort," comes across as a less neurotic, more down-to-earth Greta Gerwig, who is easy to root for as a candidate for love and happiness. Eggert won the first "gender-neutral" award for her performance at the 71st Berlin Film Festival, a top prize in the acting category without the stipulation of any of the 60+ gender identities and expressions. Alma studies ancient cuneiform writing at Berlin's famous Pergamon Museum. She's a scientist who doesn't have much time for romance. To keep her research funded, she agrees to let humanoid robot Tom live with her for three weeks as a test run for her benefactor the Terrareca company represented by clipboard toting Mitarbeiterin (Sandra Hüller) who checks in occasionally to see how the unconventional living arrangement is going. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.