I'm Your Man, the new sci-fi rom-com from Unorthodox director Maria Schrader that's adapted from a short story by Emma Braslavsky, wastes no time getting started. The film opens in the middle of a swinging dance party, where Alma Felser (Maren Eggert) is meeting her date Tom (Dan Stevens) for the first time. Tom is romantic, cheesy, and ready to do anything to help and please Alma. Yet, she is decidedly cynical about his big romantic gestures. Why shouldn't she be cynical when she knows her date is a robot programmed to be the perfect boyfriend?
This date, in which most of the partygoers happen to be holograms, is part of a scientific study to test Tom's programming. Alma and a handful of other humans are using the study to decide whether these love-bots should be released to the public, as well as what, if any, rights they deserve. Compared to Samantha in Her or Ava in Ex Machina, to name two other sexy cinematic A.I.'s, Tom looks fully human but his programming still needs a bit more work to pass the Turing Test, at least as far as Alma is concerned. The resulting relationship drama breaks no new ground for science fiction, but I'm Your Man stays entertaining nonetheless.
I'm Your Man's greatest strength is its two main characters and their actors. Eggert already won Best Leading Performance at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year for her role in the movie. Alma is an archeologist trying to prove that even the earliest cuneiform writing contained elements of poetry. Having her own rough history with love and loss, she takes the part in the A.I. dating study mainly for the money to fund her research. As reluctant as she is about it, part of her does find Tom attractive -- and that attraction scares her.
And how could anyone interested in men not find Dan Stevens at least a little attractive? A British actor best known for his roles in Downton Abbey, Legion, and 2017's Beauty and the Beast, Tom is Steven's first role entirely in German. If anything, he's even more charismatic in another language. Every character who doesn't know he's a robot is instantly charmed by Tom, and whenever it comes up, he addresses his robotic nature with self-aware humor. The ultimate programming flaw that prevents him from truly passing as a human is his complete selflessness -- he doesn't have any desires of his own except his romantic programming objectives. Pretending to be angry to make Alma feel comfortable with him only makes their relationship more awkward.
Germany has selected I'm Your Man as its official submission for the Best International Film Oscar this year. If awards voters see it, then both Eggert and Stevens deserve to be in consideration as well. The movie is pretty much a pure character study that succeeds as well as it does almost entirely upon the strength of their performances. Thanks to them, I'm Your Man is funny, sad, and compelling -- even it's not the most complex or original movie of its kind.
As a work of sci-fi, I'm Your Man doesn't develop an evocative near-future setting nor does it get as complicated in its questions as Her did. Alma's philosophical conclusions in the film's final act are written well and make sense, but they also don't go much further beyond an extended po-faced version of Futurama's "I Dated a Robot" episode. Some more original elements could have made I'm Your Man a more memorable and powerful experience. As is, the movie won't become a genre classic, but sci-fi and rom-com fans will still find it an enjoyable watch.
I'm Your Man opens in theaters on Sept. 24.