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TOe (gamecock Photos special to The Gamecock ABOVE: David (Haley Joel Osment), a robot with the capacity to love, with his “mother” (Frances O’Conner). BELOW: David with his mechanical Teddy and a love robot (Jude Law). 'A.I/ mixes styles of Kubrick, Spielberg by Tug Baker The Gamecock — “A.I. Artifical Intelligence” . STARS: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law PLOT: An android child is about to take an emotional journey to find out if he can ever be anything more than a machine. OVERALL: Spielberg takes on Kubrick’s unfinished work about a robot child given the ability to love. ■&☆☆☆ Of ☆☆☆☆☆ l , ' ' Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg are arguably the two greatest film directors ever. With more than 40 films under his belt, Spielberg is the prolific champion of basic human goodness while Kubrick’s vastly shorter resume (only 16 films) concentrates on the darkest sides of humanity. Spielberg is “E.T.,” and Kubrick is “A Clockwork Orange.” Kubrick had been working on “A.I.,” an adaptation of a Brian Aldiss’s story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long,” for almost 15 years when he asked Spielberg to be his personal sounding board for the project. The two worked closely, on and off on the project, and when Kubrick died in 1999, Spielberg felt it was his right and duty to finish the late master’s work. What was conceived is a child from the marriage of two different sides of a coin, which might explain the polarity of the reviews “A.I.” has received. The film is set in the future after the greenhouse effect has melted most of the polar ice caps, flooding much of the Earth. Because of food and space shortages, people are discouraged to have children; instead, intelligent robots are developed to perform various human tasks. One robot designer decides to alleviate people’s yearnings for children by building a robot child capable of loving a parent. This results in David (Haley Joel Osment), a robot given the capacity to love and left in the care of two parents whose own son has been cryogenically frozen until a cure can be found for his disease. After much convincing, the mother, Monica Swinton (Frances O’ Conner), agrees to the idea, but when her own son is miraculously cured, things get tricky. David becomes a threat to the family, and in a gut-wrenching scene, Monica deserts him in the woods so he won’t be destroyed by his manufacturers. From there, David and his mechanical Teddy set out to find the mythical Blue Fairy from “Pinocchio” so she can turn him into a “real boy,” and his “mother” will love him again. The script — Spielberg s first since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” — is a whirlwind ride through a world where both Kubrick and Spielberg’s varying influences run rampant. The visuals are worthy of awe and present a future akin to that of “Blade Runner.” However, Spielberg’s influence adds much lighter visuals, and here lies the problem with “A.I.” — it’s a movie in which two very different directors seem to have a hand, making it a roller coaster of emotions. The acting is astonishing. Jude Law, playing a love robot who throws in with David, is immaculate. Osment himself must be lauded somewhat for his performance, although it’s remarkably similar to the role he played in “The Sixth Sense.” O’ Conner’s portrayal of David’s “mother” is beautifully done and should be awarded. Perhaps one of the most intriguing and wise characters in the movie is David’s Teddy, given life by experienced voice actor Jack Angel. A.I. will never be called a masterpiece because it’s indecisive about what it wants to be. However, Kubrick and Spielberg’s conflicting interests mesh in a way that’s a work of art in itself. It’s as if Michelangelo and Picasso decided to work on the Sistine Chapel together. This movie isn’t for everyone, though. If you think “A.I.” will be another “E.T.” because it’s a two letter acronym and it’s Spielberg, stay far away. Also, the pure science fiction of the movie makes for a rather jumbled ending that’s left many moviegoers with a bad taste in their mouths. “A.I.” is as audacious and challenging as it is beautiful and compelling. While their styles might not have integrated as he hoped, Spielberg has created a wonderful tribute to the work of Stanley Kubrick that will last in the minds of movie lovers for years to come. The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspotlight® hotmail.com