Story Recapped here. Today, I’m going to explain a comedy, drama,
and sci-fi film called, “The Bicentennial Man.” Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care. In 2005, the Martin family, husband, Richard,
his wife, and their two daughters, Grace and Amanda, acquire a robot butler from the N.D.R. Robotics company. Richard activates the robot and it introduces
to them the three laws of robotics. Amanda accidentally names the robot, Andrew. Richard lets Andrew take the basement as his
room and sets his duties to housekeeping and maintenance. When Andrew asks if he would like to turn
on his personality chip, Richard refuses. The next day, Andrew cleans the basement and
fixes an old phonograph. Grace doesn’t take well to the robot and
even orders it to jump out of the window while Amanda is more sympathetic to him. Richard reprimands his daughters and teaches
them that even though Andrew is a robot and their property, they must take care of him
and treat him like an actual person. The family goes to the beach the next day
and Amanda plays with her glass horse figurines. When she hands her favorite toy to Andrew,
he accidentally drops and breaks it. She becomes upset and Andrew, despite being
a robot, feels compelled to make it up to her. He gathers some driftwood and learns to carve
by reading some books. He carves up a wooden toy horse and leaves
it on Amanda’s bed. In return, Amanda gives Andrew one of her
stuffed toys named Woofy. When morning comes, Richard is intrigued by
Andrew’s newfound creativity and ability to make something original. He soon finds the robot in the basement listening
to an opera from the phonograph that he has fixed himself. Richard takes Andrew to the N.D.R. Robotics headquarters and meets Dennis Mansky,
the C.E.O. He tells Mansky that Andrew has exhibited
characteristics such as creativity, curiosity, and friendship. Mansky tells him that this is an anomaly and
assumes that Richard wants money in exchange for keeping his mouth shut or else they will
be forced to recall the entire line. Mansky tells him that they can give Andrew
back to the company so that they could replace him, but Richard refuses to hand in Andrew. Despite Mansky’s efforts to negotiate, Richard
and Andrew leave, stating that there is no price for individuality. Richard then makes changes to Andrew’s workload. He will no longer just focus on housework
and the children, but instead spend time dedicated to his creativity, like creating clocks similar
to Richard’s line of work. Andrew will also spend time with Richard each
evening where he will teach the robot about the ways of human life. Over time, Andrew continues his creative pursuits
carving different objects, but mostly clocks. He also learns about humans, how they reproduce,
how to understand humor, and how to tell jokes among many other things. He also learns to play the piano with help
from Amanda. Several years pass and Amanda grows into a
young woman while Andrew remains the same. Their friendship has just grown stronger over
the years. Richard and his wife have grown older too
and their other daughter, Grace, has just entered her rebellious phase. The family then decides to sell the clocks
that Andrew had made through the years and Amanda says that Andrew should get the money
since he does all the work. Richard reminds her daughter that while Andrew
is part of the family, he is still a machine and that she shouldn’t invest her emotions
in a machine. Richard sells Andrew’s clock and helps him
open a bank account with the help of their family lawyer. One afternoon, Amanda visits Andrew in his
workshop and he accidentally cuts off his finger. He reassures her that it’s fixable and then
she tells him the news. Her boyfriend, Frank, had asked her to marry
him. She talks to him about her conflicting feelings
about marrying Frank when after all, she has feelings for Andrew too. Andrew is oblivious to the conversation and
this helps Amanda decide on her dilemma. She will marry Frank. It is the natural thing to do. She thanks Andrew for listening to her as
always and asks him to wear a tuxedo and be an usher at her wedding. Andrew accepts her invitation happily. Richard then takes Andrew to N.D.R. Robotics for repairs and brings his lawyer. He threatens Mansky that if they try to replace
Andrew’s brain, an alarm will be triggered and the police will be alerted. Then they will sue them until bankruptcy. Andrew requests if he could have an upgrade
to his face as well so that he will be able to express more emotions. Mansky tells him that this is a very expensive
upgrade but it turns out Andrew has more than enough money in his bank account to cover
the expenses. Mansky ultimately agrees to the upgrade. Soon enough, the wedding takes place and Amanda
becomes Mrs. Frank Charney. Andrew attends the wedding, wearing a tuxedo
for the first time, and greets Amanda with a smile on his new face. After the celebrations, Andrew joins Richard
near the lake as he reminisces about his memories with her daughters. As they watch a recording of their father
and daughter dance, Richard grows sentimental and tells Andrew that both of his daughters
have grown old and moved away and how he is all alone. Andrew reminds him that he is still there
and Richard thanks him for that. 12 years later, Amanda bore an only son, Lloyd,
who unlike his mother is very hostile to robots. He dumps sand on Andrew on a beach outing
and refuses to apologize. Amanda reprimands him and forces him to apologize. As they sit by the beach, Andrew expresses
his wishes to be declared free. He doesn’t want to leave the family or stop
working for them, but rather, he simply wishes to be free to have a choice. Amanda understands his plight and helps him
talk to her father. Later that night, Andrew hands Richard a cheque
of all his savings in return for his freedom. He explains his desires to him but Richard
becomes upset and accuses Amanda of planting these ideas in his head. She reassures his father that Andrew is free
to make his own decisions and that it is only natural for him, over time, to learn, develop,
and eventually grow a sense of self. The next morning, Richard hands the cheque
back to Andrew and declares him to be free. Andrew then packs his belongings and is asked
to leave the house. Despite Andrew’s insistence to continue
to serve them, Richard tells him that his service is no longer needed. With his newfound freedom, Andrew buys a piece
of land near the beach and builds his own house. He spends the next 16 years of his life carving
and learning more about the world, until one day, an older Amanda knocks on his door and
tells him that her father has asked for him. They go to the house and Andrew visits Richard
on his deathbed. Richard tells him that he was wrong and Andrew
was right in asking for his freedom. He holds his hand and thanks Andrew for serving
them well all these years. After Richard’s passing, Andrew talks to
Lloyd, Amanda’s son, who is a lawyer. He asks for his help in acquiring information
regarding his kind so that he can seek them out and he can understand more about his destiny. Lloyd agrees to help him out on the thought
that Andrew will be gone for a long time and will no longer influence his mother. Andrew wins the case and he sets out on his
journey to search for robots like himself. Several years pass but he hasn’t met any
robot that’s similar to him. All this time he has kept in touch with Amanda
and he writes letters to her about his adventures. As his journey ends, Andrew finds himself
back in San Franciso based on the news of a robot that has been recently rebuilt in
the area. At a marketplace, Andrew sees a female dancing
robot. He follows her to a rundown warehouse and
learns that her name is Galatea. While he’s ecstatic to meet a robot who
has the same uniqueness as he does, he is soon disappointed when he learns that this
is only because Galatea’s personality chip is activated. She has no individuality outside her own programming. He meets her owner, Rupert Burns, whose father
was an engineer at N.D.R. Robotics. His father was the one who invented the technology
so that the robots can mimic human expression. After his father was laid off, he started
his own robotics enterprise but he soon died and Rupert took over. Andrew learns that Rupert is working on a
suit that robots could wear that would mimic the external appearance of a human being,
but no one is willing to fund his project. Andrew gets an idea and offers to fund Rupert’s
project in exchange for him creating a suit especially for him. With Rupert’s help, Andrew soon gains a
new body, one that resembles a 40-year-old human being. Excited by his new look, Andrew returns to
the Martins’ home and is confused to see a young woman who strikingly looks like a
young Amanda. Andrew meets the real Amanda, now older than
he is, and she almost instantly recognizes him. He then learns that the young woman is Lloyd’s
daughter, Portia, making her Richard’s great-granddaughter. The two friends catch up with each other and
Andrew goes back to living in his beach house and even adopts a stray dog who he names Woofy. Andrew soon visits Portia together with Woofy. After a bumpy start, the two start an unlikely
friendship. Portia realizes that all Andrew wants is to
be with a friend and seek out a human connection. After several weeks, Andrew finds himself
at a hospital. It turns out that Amanda had a stroke. He enters the hospital room and finds Amanda
laying on the bed with the wooden toy horse in her hand. Amanda tells him that she’s glad he’s
there and drifts off to sleep. Andrew bids his old friend goodbye as Portia
checks her grandmother’s pulse. Amanda has now passed away. Despite his inability to produce tears, Andrew
can feel his heart breaking, now that his oldest friend is gone. Andrew goes back to Rupert and asks for his
help in producing synthetic organs to make him become more human. Rupert is reluctant but is willing to take
on the challenge. While with Rupert, he also learns to become
more human in his language and expressions. Before the project comes to a close, Rupert
asks him if he is ready for the radical change. If Andrew proceeds with this, not only will
he feel happiness, but he will also feel sadness, hurt, and pain. Andrew tells him that there is no doubt in
his mind and he wants to proceed with the transition. As the project is in progress, Andrew visits
Portia and they go for a walk together. She invites him to a party at a building that
she had just finished restoring and he happily accepts. At the party, Portia invites Andrew to dance. Under the lights, the two share a passionate
dance, unaware of the growing feelings between them. At one of their walks, Portia, feeling conflicted
about her feelings for Andrew, tells him that while she considers him as a good friend,
she can’t invest her feelings in a machine. Andrew feels offended and reminds her that
things can always change. He returns back to Rupert and goes through
the final stages of the transition. Once the change is complete, Andrew visits
Portia and asks her to poke his eye. Portia does so and he is ecstatic now that
he can feel pain. He then asks her to kiss him and the two share
a quick kiss. Portia feels conflicted about the kiss, bringing
up the fact that she is marrying her boyfriend, Charles, in a few weeks. She knows she loves Andrew but she wants him
to realize for himself that he loves her too. She tells him that in order for him to follow
his heart, he must do the wrong thing. This will help him make mistakes and learn
from those mistakes. Andrew takes her advice and leaves. Meanwhile, Galatea becomes hostile against
Rupert and tells him how tired she is of him bossing her around. It turns out that Andrew has removed her personality
chip. Rupert goes to Andrew and begs him to return
the chip to him. Andrew is reluctant but he eventually gives
the chip back. The two quickly find themselves hiding at
Portia’s engagement party. Andrew talks to Rupert about how much he despises
Portia’s fiancee and Rupert informs him that this is him being jealous. Andrew realizes that if he’s jealous then
that must mean that he’s in love with Portia. Andrew leaves the party with Rupert following
him closely behind. Unbeknownst to him, Portia actually wanted
Andrew to crash in and take her away, but he was nowhere in sight. Back at his beach house, Rupert informs him
that he’s working on a new upgrade that would enable Andrew to fully gain all senses,
including the sexual aspect of being a human being, thus making him a complete man. The next day, Andrew visits Portia at work. He now understands what she meant about making
the wrong choice. He declares his love for her and tells her
that he knows that she loves him too. She must now do the right thing and follow
her heart. When Portia walks away, he asks her to give
him one kiss, and then they can know once and for all if they are meant for each other. She gives in and the two share a deep kiss. Portia kisses him back, confirming that she
does love Andrew too. The next morning, the two lay in bed next
to each other after an intimate evening. They eat breakfast together and Portia sadly
mentions how their relationship will never be accepted. Andrew tells her that now he will need to
do the next step. He files a case with the World Congress so
that he can be officially considered as a human being. Despite having a strong case, congress rejects
his case on the grounds of his inability to age. No one will like an immortal human, that’s
why as long as he cannot age, he will not be declared as a human being. Many years pass and Portia grows into a lovely
75-year-old woman while Andrew has remained relatively the same. Over a game of chess, Portia expresses her
thoughts about her mortality. Andrew reassures her that she can now practically
live forever with the existing technology, but she doesn’t want to. For her, it’s unnatural to live forever. Human beings are meant to exist for a time
and then pass on, and that’s how she wants to live her life. It’s the natural thing to do. But Andrew can’t bear to live in a world
without her. Later that night, he remembers something that
Richard once told him. People grow over time, but for him, time is
endless. Andrew knows, deep in his heart, the right
thing to do. He visits Rupert, whose enterprise has now
earned him millions of dollars, and asks him to transition him to a complete human being
by injecting blood into his system. Rupert tells him that after the process is
complete, he will have around 30 or 45 more years to live. Andrew accepts this fate and the transition
is complete. After several decades, Andrew files an appeal
and appears before the World Congress again. This time, he is a very frail old man, nearly
around 200 years old. He tells Congress that he would rather live
one lifetime as a man than live all of eternity as a machine. All he wants is to be recognized for who he
is. Congress hears his case and asks for some
time before they make a decision. Time passes on and soon, Andrew and Portia
lay next to each other, both clinging to life support. Galatea, who is now also more human, attends
to them and turns on the television so that they can watch the live broadcast of the World
Congress’s decision. They hold each other’s hands as congress
announces their decision to consider Andrew Martin as a human being and validate his marriage
to Portia Charney. Unfortunately, Andrew passes away before he
could hear their decision. Portia looks over at her husband as Galatea
confirms that Andrew has died. She tells Galatea that Andrew didn’t need
to hear the congress’ decision. No matter what anyone says, Andrew lived a
life that is worthy of any human being. She requests that her life support be unplugged
as well. Portia holds on to the love of her life as
she slowly slips away and whispers that she will see him soon.
