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Director: Jonathan Mostow
Screenwriters: Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato
Starring: Bruce Willis (interview), Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames
Running time: 88 mins
Certificate: 12A

When the highlight of a movie is a dodgy wig worn by a robot version of Bruce Willis then you know you're in trouble. But those false follicles are the least of Surrogates' follies, as plenty of decent ideas about the future of mankind and technology are squandered by an unfocused mess of a script and mostly leaden direction that inhibits the flow.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Jonathan Mostow's movie begins with a montage of news clips showing that mankind has become largely addicted to using 'surrogates', which are robots that resemble humans but without any physical imperfections. This involves the genuine human being wired up to a computer in their own home and the mechanical representation carrying out their everyday activities. Bald and weary FBI Agent Greer (Willis) eventually grows tired of using his amusingly coiffured surrogate (bearing a side parting that tops his Sixth Sense weave!) and craves cuddling up to his real wife (Rosamund Pike) and not her robotic manifestation. Soon, he stumbles across a conspiracy that threatens to wipe out all the surrogates and those using them.

The bare bones of the plot really should have led to a movie akin to Strange Days in terms of its ethical and philosophical musings on technology and stylised representation of the future. Sadly, the emphasis is largely focussed on a bogstandard 'whodunnit' narrative that makes your average episode of Murder, She Wrote look dramatically groundbreaking. It relegates the likes of James Cromwell and Ving Rhames to mere ciphers, while Radha Mitchell's thespian prowess is also wasted as Greer's surrogate FBI partner Peters.

Bruce Willis struggles with some of the material when playing the human Greer, although Mostow's direction does him no favors at all. One particular scene featuring the anxiety-ridden Greer walking down a busy street is unintentionally hilarious. The moment after he tells Peters that he suffers from anxiety around surrogates is swiftly followed by an awkward procession of close-up shots of Willis's face contorting with various tics and winks as he passes the robots on the pavement. It's the antithesis of the desired emotional poignancy, and feels like a token gesture to give depth to the flimsy characterisation.

However, Willis acquits himself well in the rare moments of intimacy between him and his wife. No, not that kind of intimacy. He got all of that out of his system (and a lot more) in Color Of Night. Greer's desperate pleading with her to shun her beautiful synthetic form for her older, more decrepit real self shows the heights that Surrogates could have scaled. Director Mostow also demonstrates that he is still capable of generating the thrills that catapulted his debut movie Breakdown into cult status, but sadly this is only evident in one road-based chase sequence that's a masterclass in quick cutting and clever angles.

A surprisingly well executed denouement and plenty of effective make-up and CGI work on the robots also ensure that Surrogates isn't a total dud. Such positives are paradoxically demoralising though, as they further highlight the missed opportunity to make something far more palatable given the talent involved. Too often it feels like one of the robotic surrogates was left in charge of the scripting and directing duties for large portions of the movie.

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