Imagine a robot that seemed almost human. Imagine that as you learn more about your robot, you find it more and more difficult to think of it as a machine, because it acts so human. Welcome to Bicentennial Man.

Robin Williams is the robot "Andrew" and Sam Neill his first (and only) owner. To his amazement "Sir" (the only name Andrew will call his owner) finds his new robot to be very special. When he takes it back to the factory, they call its behavior dangerous and want to repair or replace it. Of course, Sir refuses this request.

Andrew's talents are enormous. Soon he is generating more than enough income to support himself and his owners and eventually, he is given his "freedom". This leads to a journey to find others of his kind. His journey is a failure, in that there are no others, but a success in that it united Andrew with eccentric inventor Rupert Burns (Oliver Platt). Little by little, over the course of years, thanks largely in part to inventions created by Andrew, Burns is able to make Andrew look more and more human.

There are other questions explored in this movie. Can humans and machines fall in love? Can machines earn the right to be referred to as something other than it? These conflicts seem silly now, but as technology continues to advance, someday these are problems that will have to be faced.

New ethical issues arise later, when Andrew meets and falls in love with the granddaughter of his original owner. She falls in love with him as well. Andrew looks so human by this point that the difference between machine and man are very slight. But is a machine truly capable of love? Is Andrew something, or by now someone, who has transcended? Transitioned to a new state? Andrew's "love" frightens some, but he doesn't care. He lives by his own standards and doesn't really care much about what others think.

Robin Williams is a very talented actor, who can do dramatic roles with ease. He is good in this role. But the story itself is almost too unbelievable as to seem vapid, given the critical issues that this kind of movie raises. But as a light-hearted, romantic movie, with some comedic moments sprinkled in, it isn't bad. It just could have been so much more.