Pun Salad

A pretty good movie for those who like R-rated material (according to the MPAA, "graphic nudity, language, sexual references and some violence") broken up with sophomoric discussions of artificial intelligence. That's me!

The movie's protagonist is young Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a fine programmer working for "Blue Book", identified as the pre-eminent search engine company in the world. He wins a work contest, and the coveted prize is to spend a week with the reclusive Blue Book founder, Nathan (Oscar Isaac) at his remote wilderness retreat.

But not is all as it seems: instead of just hanging out, Nathan tells Caleb that his purpose is to evaluate Ava, a robot who's the very latest AI development. Can she pass the Turing Test, showing that she has human-level intelligence?

But before Caleb can say "waitaminnit, that's not how the Turing Test is supposed to work" (and he does), we meet Ava (Alicia Vikander), who's not only smart, but beautiful, at least her humanoid parts. (See DVD box at right… no, your right.) And (once again) things are not what they seem.

The movie is a tad arty at times (for some reason I've become sensitive to this), but the script is clever and the acting is first-rate. (Both male actors, Gleeson and Isaac, are in the new Star Wars movie.) Isaac is really good, managing a complex character who's full of brilliance, deceit, charisma, arrogance, and megalomania. Special effects (mostly Ava) are very good. Scenery (even setting Ava aside) is pretty good too.