This film was interesting for the questions it raised more than for the performances given.
In the near future, human beings have almost completely stopped interacting in the flesh, using human replicas called surrogates instead. Their creator, Cantor (James Cromwell), initially designed the robots for quadriplegics and others who were bed-bound, but the tech was too good to not end up mainstream. Embittered, Cantor retreats to seclusion until his son is killed while using one of his surrogates. FBI agents Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) are assigned the case to investigate what kind of weapon could fry a non-present user along with his robot. Greer soon discovers that the roots of this mystery go much further than a simple murder.
Someone is probably working on a robot like this right now. We already have technology that uses a person's brainwaves to move a cursor on a computer, enabling the previously voiceless to speak. How much longer will it be until some enterprising soul takes that idea and turns it into a reason to never leave your house? Want to go grocery shopping but don't want to put on real pants? Let your super-hot (because let's be real, who's going to buy an ugly robot?) surrogate do it for you. It essentially turns your life into a video game.
The film also does a good job covering the myriad reasons why people hide themselves away behind technological devices. Greer's wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike) uses her surrogate more than her real body in order to not have to deal with her grief and guilt. She has a new face, so she is a new person with no past except that which she chooses. That's a seductive trap right there.
There are a few too many plot holes for this to be a sci-fi classic, but it was worth watching at least once.
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