Toss-up Tuesday: I, Robot – Screenplay
Have I utterly cast aside Too Funny Tuesdays? Maybe. Right now I’m all about book reviews, so that’s what I’m doing.
Perhaps you’ve seen the movie erroneously known as I, Robot, with Will Smith. I’ve seen it and somewhat enjoyed it, but it’s not I, Robot. Really, it’s not. The “book” the film was “based on” was actually a collection of Isaac Asimov’s robot-themed short stories. And they’re terrific.
(By the way, the audio version with Scott Brick is one of my favorite audio books.)
Just don’t expect to find Will Smith’s character in any of the stories. That’s right, Del Spooner, robotophobe cop, is not an Asimov creation. He probably draws some of his character from Elijah Bailey, a cop from Asimov’s Robot Novels, and some of the plot seems to come from The Caves of Steel.
This isn’t really a rant on movies being different from books. It happens, and sometimes you end up with a good movie and a great book, even though they only share a title. The Count of Monte Cristo is a good example. Enjoy both. Just don’t expect them to be anything like similar.
The problem here is that there was an excellent screenplay that could have, no, should have been made into a faithful adaptation of the original I, Robot stories. In which Susan Calvin wasn’t just eye candy (in fact, she’s characterized as quite 
plain), but was the main character.
Harlan Ellison wrote it (in the 70s), and Asimov loved it. And movie producers dropped the ball.
I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay isn’t perfect, of course. Every fan of the original stories probably has a favorite, and one of mine didn’t make it into this screenplay. And the character featured in it is given somewhat short shrift. And he’s an important character. And some of the climax of the screenplay was confusing.
Still, the screenplay works and is totally filmable with today’s technology. It just didn’t happen. And it’s a real shame.
This was the first screenplay I’ve read, and I probably won’t read many others. It took some getting used to the different formatting, but after the adjustment, it was fairly easy to read.
Asimov and Ellison’s introductions to the work and particularly Ellison’s screed about the stupid movie producers were also worth reading.
