I’M YOUR MAN – review

Would you fall in love with an android specially designed to please you? Would that be a good thing? That is the premise behind director Maria Schrader’s German sci-fi tale I’M YOUR MAN (Ich Bin Dein Mensch) starring Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert. I’M YOUR MAN starts out like a romantic comedy, but takes a deeper, more thoughtful, and thought-provoking turn in this excellent German language film. Of course, people falling in love with robots has a long literary history, going back to Pygmalion, and human-made men tales go back to the Golem and Frankenstein, was well as being a familiar science fiction theme. But Schrader, whose previous work includes the Netflix series “Unorthodox,” puts a new spin on it and what starts out as a meet-cute human-robot rom-com eventually evolves into something deeper, even meditating on the risks of substituting a perfect artificial construct for real human interactions.

Set in the near future, Alma (Maren Eggert) is an archaeologist who studies ancient poetry in cuneiform writing, who is drafted by the director of the museum where she works to be a tester for a new invention: an android designed to be a substitute for a romantic partner, but especially programmed to suit her. Alma, who is still getting over the break-up of a serious relationship, really does not want the task, but her boss insists, as the assignment comes with funding for her research. She is supposed to keep the android (which this German film calls a robot) for three weeks, and then write a report evaluating it. When she arrives to pick up her assigned android, she is escorted to a room recreating a romantic 1940s nightclub to meet her android Tom (Dan Stevens), but the robot starts glitching almost as soon as they meet, and is hauled off for quick repairs.

That meet-cute gets the rom-com side rolling quickly, as the AI robot Tom tries to find a way to please his would-be partner, who decides to house him in a utility closet with the broom and bucket. But the film slowly becomes something more serious and contemplative, meditating on the risks of substituting a “perfect” artificial construct for real if imperfect human interactions. While there are parallels to films such as HER and EX MACHINA, this android is far less threatening because he is programmed specifically to please her and to have no other purpose than to get better at doing that. It gives Dan Steven’s robot man a bit of a puppy dog aspect, both irritating Alma with his devotion and tugging at her heart – and ours – with his dogged determination to get better at his job and win her over.

Both Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert turn in strong, affecting performances that make the film work, along with its well-crafted script. Stevens has the tougher job, appearing machine like but a machine trying hard to be human, which requires the actor to walk a very fine line. At the same time, Stevens still has to make the audience like robot Tom. Eggert has more emotional latitude but she does an outstanding job as she explores all the various aspects of a conflicted woman who is anything but open to this whole idea. Alma is determined to approach it with a researcher’s professionalism, while coping with her broken heart. Alma’s ex, Julian (Hans Löw), works at the same museum institution, so running into him is painful and unavoidable. Clueless, Julian wants to be friends, which makes matters worse. Alma’s boss, played by FALILOU SECK, not only pressured her into this assignment but seems to view her as the test subject as much as the robot.

The strong supporting cast includes Sandra Hüller as an employee of the robotics company, which is hoping to market the romantic androids to the public, once they pass the testing phase. Huller provides much of the comedy outside of the central pair.

The script was based on the short story “Ich bin dein Mensch” by Emma Braslavsky, adapted for the screen by Jan Schomburg and director Schrader. Maria Schrader was an actor, starring in films such as AIMEE & JAGUAR, before turning to directing. Dan Stevens was cast because he speaks German well, and the script called for a “foreign” sounding android with a British accent, making Stevens was a perfect fit. Plus, the director wanted an actor who was less familiar to German audiences, and again the Downton Abbey star fit the bill (maybe that British hit series hasn’t reached German audiences yet).

What is most curious about the production is that, while it was cast before Covid hit, it was shot at the height of the pandemic, starting in August 2020, which required special precautions. Still, you would never know that looking at the finished film, although most scenes have two or three people. The acting is strong, as well as the script, but the photography and the whole production values are spot on, and the film is graced with a nice score, including jazz classics for that early meet-cute although, curiously, it does not include that Leonard Cohen classic in its title.

Schrader crafts a thoughtful film that both amuses and tugs at our heart and yet makes us think. I’M YOUR MAN, in German with English subtitles, opens Friday, Oct. 1, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and in theaters nationally, and will be available digitally on Tuesday, October 12th.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars