A Very British AI Movie - Brian & Charles
A spoiler free review of David Earl's eccentric and very charming robot story
Brian is an isolated inventor living in a run down cottage in the valleys in Wales. We find out immediately that Brian is going through a spell of depression fuelled by loneliness. Inexplicably filmed as a light touch mockumentary, Brian shows us his recent inventions, including a flying cuckoo clock that allows the village residents to look up at the sky to be able to tell the time, an egg belt - which does exactly what it says on the tin - a belt for your eggs, and trawler nets for shoes amongst many other madcap inventions. Brian often directly addresses the camera in an Office style deadpan way explaining that his depression has been somewhat kept at bay by “giving himself a kick up the bottom and getting busy” with his inventions.
On one of his scavenge hunts through the bins, Brian finds a mannequin head, and is struck with inspiration to build a robot. Using a discarded washing machine, gloves and a “big man’s shirt” he builds an AI companion. Suspense of disbelief relied upon heavily here. When his robot finally boots up - the robot settles on the name Charles, and then jovially adds ‘Petrescu’ as his surname. Welcome to the world Charles Petrescu!
What ensues is a fairly simple narrative, but beautifully charming development of the relationship between Brian and Charles. Charles is a bizarre mixture of cartoonistic appearance, mechanical voice with sort of Google speech inflections of getting things just a little bit wrong - Honolulu quickly becomes ‘Honol’ or ‘Hon Loop Loop’ and anthropomorphised twitchiness of his legs and hands.
I’ve seen a couple of American reviews of this that rate the film quite low, I suspect some of the intrinsically British comedy may be lost - things to me that seem inherently funny and inherently British are -
Cabbages
the village corner shop
the valleys
bow ties
playing darts
hula skirts
The comedy of Brian and Charles is tame, given that most people’s experience of David Earl’s previous acting roles is probably playing the absolutely grotesque but still somewhat charming Kevin in Derek. Brian and Charles is a very child-friendly movie, but don’t let the absence of foul language and adult humour fool you, Brian and Charles is hilarious. From the comedy of delivering lines with perfect comic timing, to dance parties in the kitchen, the physical comedy of watching a man walk his robot over the hills.
The topic of AI being used as a replacement for human interaction of been a strong cinematic trope now for a while. Brian and Charles now weirdly finds itself nestled in the genre that hosts The Matrix, Ex-Machina, I, Robot and Her. Brian and Charles isn’t here to educate us about the potential downfall of humanity if we introduce AI, or the complexities of building relationships with robots. The messages aren’t revolutionary, and this certainly isn’t highlighting the multitude threats that AI can bring although there is a narrative thread about Charles hitting what appears to be AI adolescence (which most parents will relate to). Leave your news-fuelled fears about AI at the door here; Charles isn’t here to take your job, or bring about the destruction of the world. He’s just here for ‘Clever Boy Dance Parties’.
One of the things that struck me was the gently offered message that “the thing that makes you different is your superpower” - something often mentioned when it comes to neurodiversity. Brian’s talent to be able to construct, invent and piece together bits of discarded rubbish into things that are useful (although the pinecone bag might not be the top of that list). His ability to assemble something useful gets him out of some tricky situations - namely with his neighbour, Eddie, who is posited as our village bully. Brian is the primal version of everyone - everyone who’s ever experienced loneliness, or pockets of depression and sadness, the little voice in your head that tells you you’re not good enough or talented enough. Brian is desperately afraid that the villagers will find out about Charles, so does his best to keep him away from society. This isn’t about stopping people from finding out about Charles, it’s a desperate attempt to minimise the reason why Charles exists. It’s poignant that Brian wants to suppress the need to explain to people why Charles exists, despite Charles being a product of ingenious talent.
Brian and Charles is ultimately a wonderfully charming film that delivers messages about the power of companionship, embracing who you are and the talents you have, and standing up for yourself in the ways that come naturally to you. Coming in at 90 minutes (a rarity nowadays in cinema), it’s very funny, very heartwarming and very, very British.
Brian and Charles is currently streaming on Sky Go, but also available for purchase on Amazon Prime.