3/5 Stars | 7/12 For Reel Score

For a brief period of my youth I was enamored with the 1999 Robin Williams vehicle Bicentennial Man. This often forgotten tearjerker followed a kindly nanny robot who embarked on a quest to take a human form while building a deep bond to the youngest daughter of the family he’s assigned to. He eventually marries her granddaughter. It’s a weird one, mostly relying on Williams ability to lay the puppy dog act on real thick. It is not thought of as one of Williams’ best works (most would rather forget it exists) but it made a minor impact on my young mind as its interest in sci-fi grew. I thought of Bicentennial Man often while watching Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun. Waititi has found himself flailing ever since he took home a writing Oscar for Jojo Rabbit. The industry legitimized his signature blend of droll humor and childlike mischief just in time for audiences to grow tired of it. Klara, adapted from a Kazuo Ishiguro novel, feels like Waititi’s attempt to harken back to his roots (particularly his 2010 coming of age film Boy) while still working on the large scale now afforded to him. The film does prove that he’s lost a few steps - but the murmur of the once vibrant filmmaker’s heartbeat can be heard for the first time in years. I suspect that might be enough for some young person who stumbles upon this with no knowledge of Waititi’s career narrative.

We meet companion android Klara (Jenna Ortega) as she prays to the sun (which powers her battery) for someone to bring her home. She’s been stuck in a beat up shop for older robots run by an overbearing manager (Natasha Lyonne) and is ready for a forever home. Thankfully, she meets Josie (Mia Tharia), who convinces her mother Chrissie (Amy Adams) to spend the money on an older model because she just loves Klara’s vibe that much. Josie has had a fraught adolescence. Her sister died some time ago and afterwards Chrissie put her through a procedure known as “lifting.” This has altered her genetic makeup to make her a more intelligent and ideally college ready young woman. Unfortunately, the side effects have been severe and potentially terminal. Klara becomes instantly enamored with her new friend and decides to repeatedly plead to the sun to bring Josie health. If only…

Klara’s store-set opening minutes had me convinced that Waititi might have rediscovered his magic. Jenna Ortega is an absolute delight as Klara. This character could’ve easily been a grating and infantilized stereotype but Ortega threads the needle perfectly. She’s certainly bright eyed and bushy tailed but is also emotionally intelligent enough to be likable. The unblinking Ortega throws herself in from frame one and never misses a beat. Watching her bounce off of her goofy AI buddies and the cynical Lyonne feels just right. Turns out that putting Waititi’s robotic joke formula into the mouths of actual androids makes it funny again. That sense of camaraderie just doesn’t stick around once we get to Josie’s house.

Klara and the Sun spends a whole lot of time trying to convince us that Josie is this remarkable young person about to be cruelly struck down by fate. Sadly, Mia Tharia’s performance is rather inert. She never reads as particularly smart or savvy. Just an average angsty teenage girl. Ortega is pulling double time trying to sell the connection between them but if Waititi and Dahvi Waller’s screenplay wasn’t bashing us over the head with repeated insistences that they’re becoming besties, I might not have noticed. Meanwhile, the tension between Klara and Chrissie is painfully contrived and that’s before we even broach Adams’ performance. Clearly a fan of Waititi’s previous work, Adams often affects an odd vocal cadence when delivering her punchlines that are already set up with the subtlety of knock knock jokes. It is as if she’s trying to sound like Waititi and in turn sell herself as a comic talent on his level. It’s overly theatrical and just doesn’t work. Once Chrissie’s role becomes a bit more serious, Adams settles down and delivers some decent scenework, but this is still a career low for her. Waititi regular Rachel House (playing the family’s nanny) often puts everyone involved to shame with her effortlessly deadpan delivery of his dialogue.

The tone shifts wildly from scene to scene. This is clearly begging to be a soft and squishy PG-rated romp for pre-teens. You could replace Klara with Paddington in all of the moments here that actually work. However, Waititi still thinks of himself as a capital D director for adults. We’re constantly in this odd middle ground between “whimsical children’s film about new technology” and “bleak sci-fi dramedy about the growing disregard for the human body full of dirty jokes and melancholy reveals.” There’s clearly a desire to capture what I understand to be more mature and stoic themes within the source material but Waititi just can’t harness it organically. Any individual sequence in Klara and the Sun will bore someone who might’ve just been having fun a moment prior.

A lot of the vitriol for Klara and the Sun will likely be a bit more over the top than necessary. The hate train against Waititi is certainly part of it, but I also think folks are bristling at any remotely positive depiction of AI and technology in this present moment. Understandable. However, this is certainly Waititi’s most earnest work in years and that counts for a lot in my book. As a Sci-Fi tearjerker for the older kiddos and teenagers, it’s perfectly serviceable. I just hope that if he tries his hand at another adaptation, he resists the urge to inject so many Taika-isms into it. His filmmaking instincts have become automated. Perhaps it’s time for him to get some sun and come back fresh.

Taika Waititi Almost Shines Again With "Klara and the Sun"