A.I.
I was quite surprised — in a positive sense — by the film. While I was expecting some kind of Spielbergy tripe with nifty special effects and some interesting elements perking up a potentially tired theme, I was treated to an actual bit of artistry. It seems Kubrick’s vision, whatever that might have been, was held very strongly. From the camera angles to set design to pacing to tone to the direction of the actors, about ninety percent of the film felt like pure Kubrick — almost more so than he usually did. Where Spielberg came in seemed to be in softening some of the excesses and rough edges Kubrick loved to leave jutting out to scrape the viewer.
There were a couple of very distinctly Spielbergy moments (such as the underwater segment and some of the tone toward the very end) and I can see now why he was attracted to the project, but I think his ideas actually complimented the work. Still, it would be fascinating to see how the film looked in various stages of production. I have to imagine it was very different before Kubrick got his manipulative claws onto it, knowing how he loved to mangle source material into his own odd shapes.
But I ramble. Surprisingly good film, which didn’t go anywhere nearly in the direction I was expecting.