Now In Theaters - Surrogates

As a long time fan of Bruce Willis I went into this one with high hopes. Once I saw that Jon Mostow was the director... I started to feel a bit leary about the film. (For those of you wondering why... Mostow was the director of 'Terminator 3'. {shudders in horror} Alright... I think I'm okay now.) I am happy to say that Willis proves again that he is still one of Hollywood's most versatile actors. Quite often we as movie goers can lock in on an actor being John McClane and forget that he was also Dr. Malcolm Crowe (of 'The Sixth Sense').

'Surrogates' has a very Matrix-like feel to it. Now I am not comparing the two movies by any means, in my humble opinion 'The Matrix' was one of the most groundbreaking movies of its time period. However, there are a few similarities in the two. And after thinking about it a bit... this film is very 'I, Robot'-ish as well. Man creates something... Man falls in love with creation... Man cannot live without creation.

I loved the storyline and plot here. Officer Tom Greer (Willis) embarks on an intriguing task of having to solve the first murder in several years. The "surrogates" are robot versions of genuine human life that can be controlled by any person young or old. The surrogates then go out and interact in the world while the person remains in the safety, and seclusion, of their own homes. Surrogates are so common that violent crime no longer exists. Violence against a surrogate is considered vandalism since no real human being is harmed. But once a surrogate is destroyed and it causes the death of its human user... Greer has to hunt down the culprit.

The cast did a wonderful job in this one. I was mostly impressed with Rosamund Pike who plays Greer's wife. Her portrayal of both his wife and the surrogate version was very interesting to watch. Her battle against who she really was and her surrogate self was quit an interesting side plot.

Overall I would recommend this movie. It's not necessarily something that you need to rush out and see, but it was put together very well. A buddy of mine brought up an interesting thought... this would have made a very interesting story for an HBO TV series. The movie alone was almost too short. There could have been more story both before and after. I would give this a solid 7 out of 10.