Surrogates

In the future, humans stay home and hook up to computer rigs while robots go out and lead their lives for them. Bruce Willis stars as an FBI agent who lets his robot self (Willis in a blonde wig and CGI makeover) do the talking. When the destruction of some surrogates actually causes their users to die, Willis’ character’s human self eventually runs around looking for answers. This is a good premise, but the opportunity to examine the emotional complexities of a world overtaken by technological gadgets is lost in a film that’s too slick and generic. It’s short, and I got the feeling its river may’ve run a little deeper in another version, but stuff probably got cut to make it move quicker. It just feels like it should’ve been a little darker and more perverse considering the idea at its center. It’s too bad, because Willis is good here, as is Radha Mitchell as his FBI partner. Hey, has anybody else noticed that Willis totally sucks at fake yawning?