I'm Here Review

"It was the best dream in the history of dreams." - Sheldon

I was very interested to see Spike Jonze's short film, I'm Here. It is a half hour independant romance set in an alternate history where robots exist in our time and are almost as common as a regular human, and act about the same. But being a robot can be very lonely, and two in particular find companionship with each other, despite discovering love's hardships.

The story centers on Sheldon, a polite if not timid robot who works at a library. The highlight of his day is when he is able to get a look at another robot, Francesca, driving in her car near his bus stop. Francesca, a free spirited robot, soon befriends him and they quickly fall in love. She shows him how to live really. The drama of the story is brought about by Francesca's clumsiness (a fatal trait of any robot), and Sheldon's subsequent self-sacrifice to help her. Sacrifices that leave one whole and the other barren, but neither unhappy. It is a very sweet story.

I can see this being up for an Oscar in the future. In such a short time, Spike Jonze is able to introduce to us a very simplistic yet fascinating version of our modern world, and one of the most convincing love stories I've seen in awhile. It is a subtle relationship. You may remember my bashing of Twilight's Edward and Bella chemistry. I claimed the majority of it was basically eye gazing. A lot of Sheldon and Francesca's relationship can be developing through their eyes, but they more take notice of each other's features and actions with complete joy as opposed to Twilight's sort of cold adoration. It is not a silent film, the two talk and talk very humanlike to one another. I especially love their conversations about dreams, which robots apparantly cannot do. The actors who voice Sheldon and Francesca, Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory, are especially tremendous. They establish great presence though they may not even be there, and with equally great emotion.

The special effects in this are some of the best I have seen in any kind of cinema lately. This is mainly because I can't even clearly define what kind of special effects it is. A part of me thought the robots were made with very well done CGI. I at first thought they were people in suits, and animatronics after that. I think perhaps the whole figures may have been people in suits (very well designed suits) and the only CGI involved were the mouths and eyes (both very human when conveying emotions). The design of the robots is particularly interesting because they aren't all I'Robot techy. Sheldon looks like he made his head out of a used Macintosh from the 90s; while Francesca looks a bit manniquin like. This makes the robots even more realistic. There is even a moment that I think was meant to be sex between the two, but it was done tastefully and in a sweet kind of way (plug ins through the back of the head).

An aspect worth mentioning would be the soundtrack. Just had to say it, the soundtrack was great. The song "There Are Many of Us" by Aska Matsumiya is used very well as a kind of theme song.

So yes, Spike Jonze, who has made great films like Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Where the Wild Things Are in his short career, once again proves he is one of the most talented and perhaps underworked American directors. He also wrote this, which earns him even more respect. I don't often watch short films, but I'm Here is one that caught my interest. I very much enjoyed it. It is a subtle and sweet little movie that tugs at the heart strings in poignant ways.

This has been the first short film review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.