Director : Simon Wincer
Producer : John Heyman
Screenwriter : David Ambrose, Allan Scott, Jeffrey Ellis
Starring : Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, Kathryn Walker, Colleen Camp, Josef Sommer, Ron Frazier, Steve Ryan, David Wohl, Danny Corkill, Amy Linker, Barret Oliver
Do guilty pleasures get any more guilty or any more pleasurable than 1985's
D.A.R.Y.L., the famed robo-kid flick?
I think not.
D.A.R.Y.L. is technological nonsense, but it's a hell of a lot of fun on its
road to feelin' good. Barret Oliver (long since vanished from the cinema scene)
plays a young boy dropped off in the woods under mysterious circumstances. He's
partially amnesiac, and after being discovered and taking up residence with a
foster family, he soon reveals he's got amazing physical and (especially)
mental powers. Fast forward to his inevitable pick-up by a clinically cold
couple, who reveal the truth: Daryl isn't Daryl, he's D.A.R.Y.L., Data
Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform. (This isn't a spoiler. It says so on the front
of the DVD.) Army isn't happy that a robot kid has developed emotions,
scientists can't cope with terminating a living being... escape and chase
ensues.
Whew! The technology of D.A.R.Y.L. is absurd yet strangely compelling. But it's
Daryl's interpersonal relationships that make it such a cotton candy winner.
Daryl's little friend Turtle (Danny Corkill, who would later become infamous as
the title character of Problem Child) gets the pair into trouble, teaches him a
bit about the birds and the bees, and brings out his humanity. Daryl's
relationship with his foster parents (especially Michael McKean in a very rare
"straight" role) adds the necessary family element. Hell, I wished McKean was
my dad after watching this movie.
Director Simon Wincer (Free Willy) does nice work blending technology, action,
and family-friendly feel-goodness. Too bad the DVD is missing any kind of
extras at all. Namely, I just want to know where I can adopt my own robot kid
that will wash his own dishes.
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" Good "
Rating: PG, 1985