Puzzlehead (2006)

Although Puzzlehead Is,by Its main subject matter,listed as Science Fiction, those who are aficionados of that genre will no doubt be disappointed. Puzzlehead Is one for the philosophers and deep-thinkers rather than fans of the neo-swashbucklers such as Star-wars, similarly the technical detail Is kept to a minimum as the focus Is on the relationship between Robot, creator, and the local shop-girl, who form the complicated "Menage-a-trois" which becomes the main subject of this unique and entertaining film. In the not-too-distant future, In an unspecified city In an unspecified country (not Important facts In a movie such as this),after some kind of(again unspecified)apocalypse, a greatly reduced population Is slowly regaining something resembling a stable society. In this dark and foreboding landscape we find Walter, who has spent several years designing and building Puzzlehead, a robot In his own Image, a facsimile of himself In both looks and - to a certain extent - with the same mindset. However, the difference In personalities begins to reveal Itself as Puzzleheads life-experiences begin to expand his mind and, In particular, when the local shop-girl comes Into their lives. How the relationship between these three characters develops Is the main subject and many Interesting questions are raised and explored. The negative comments about this film are very unfair and are, as previously mentioned, probably a result of disappointed sci-fi fans, which I suppose Is understandable to a certain extent. But this dark and disturbing drama ought to be Judged on Its own merits. No bad language, a couple of sex-scenes more Implied than visual, a little violence but no gore, all this means that thrill-seekers will be left feeling distinctly unsatisfied.....but for the thinkers and philosophers there Is a wealth of questions to ponder. It's one of those films which needs and Indeed deserves a second viewing to thoroughly get to grips with Its many aspects and Is one best enjoyed with curtains closed and phones switched off.

...and in present-day America, someone makes an awful film about it.The setting (explained (or rather, not) by a sentence or two about Luddites) is quite literally like Soviet Russia conquered the USA. There is nothing to look at; a pile of junk is more visually attractive than this film.But what about the acting? Let's put it this way: Stephen Galaida seems to have stayed in character throughout the film. Only, he stayed in the Puzzlehead character when he should have been Walter. Robbie Shapiro was slightly better, but still in the category of bad. In fact, their acting was so bad it was like watching porn, only without the sex. And with better music.As for the comments describing the film as intellectual, thought-provoking SF: if this is the very first piece of SF you've been exposed to, then yeah. Otherwise, the ideas explored in this film have been explored in countless other works, and much better so.Consider yourself warned: this film is not an overlooked little gem, it is a waste of time. Consume quality SF instead.

Somehow I managed to sit through this film till the end and in doing so feel I deserve an award for pain endurance.The film is highly predictable, extremely poorly acted (days of our lives bad)and slower than a stoned tortoise.I rarely take the time to comment but if I can save just one other person the torture of this movie then it was worth the few minutes to type.I may seem harsh with these comments but in truth these words are the nicest way I could have summed it up.I don't understand how tripe like this can still be churned out in the 21st century with over 100 years of film history behind us NO movie studio should back things like this.

I had the good fortune to see this movie at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and listen to the director and the lead actress in it answer questions. He spent 6 years editing and putting this movie together and it shows despite the obvious budget limitations he faced.Anyways, the film itself is basically about a man who creates a robot (named Puzzlehead) that looks exactly like him and whose "synaptic map" is a direct copy of his own. The two look the same except for a beard. The man has a crush on a local grocery store clerk and Puzzlehead the robot is the one who ends up finally meeting her. She thinks he's a human etc. and the drama begins. The plot goes from there and i don't want to spoil it but basically there's a lot of twists involving who is the real man and who is the robot and which is ultimately the better person.The film handles robot artificial intelligence issues really well and shows the progression of how a robot would likely think and the striking differences and similarities between humans and robots. The film makes the audience truly question who is more human. All the technological mumbo jumbo is easy to understand so you don't get into a situation where you're confused (like that movie "Primer"). But the plot does stay a little ahead of the viewer.The film obviously could have benefited from a bigger budget, but there are an enough circuits and gizmos and filming techniques that convince us that the protagonist created a robot.There is subtle humor throughout and the plot is constantly engaging. I strongly recommend everyone see this film.On a side note: the lead actresses's dialogue was all replaced by some other woman's voice to make it sound more eastern European. I was surprised she was at the screening, I would have been mad.