I watch as many Red Letter Media reviewed films as I can. I absolutely regret trying to watch this one. The reactions on their YT review of this abomination were not exaggerated. I legitimately had to stop watching this movie. It's amazing that Joey Pants and John Rhys-Davies were allowed to work in Hollywood after taking part in this atrocity. It's one of the worst things.
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MrPooPooJohn7 March 2020
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I remember when this movie got released on video,My mother rented it for me.I thought I could give this one a try.It was alright,but I can point a few things out to make this one a better film.I don't really remember the plot.All I know is that an inventor creates a robot in the family.And that one guy from Raiders of the lost ark and The Last Crusade was some kind of villain. ......... ......... .. ...... ........ ....... ......... .......... ............. ........... ........ ....... .. . ....... .......... ............ ............ .......... .......... .......... ...... ...... .......... .......... ......... ........ ........ ......
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misanthropic923 February 2021What this is... but my mind is broken... oh and NOISES!
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Nerraux5 December 2003I'm not sure what that means, but it says so right on the box. I think one of the characters says "gosh" once or something.
How this one slipped by the Oscar committee, I'll never know. -
I_Ailurophile6 December 2023The opening credits haven't even finished flashing on-screen and already the picture raises a skeptical eyebrow. The "Golddigger" song that first greets us, our first look at the hideous robot, the voice and dialogue given to Golddigger, and the descriptions we get of the bot in the opening minutes all cast into severe doubt the movie we're about to watch before it even meaningfully begins. If in the first instant Joe Pantoliano's animated performance seems promising, within moments the empty pizazz becomes tiresome - and frankly, this goes for pretty much everything about 'Robot in the family.' Acting, stunts and effects, music, sound effects, cinematography and editing, and not least Mark Richardson and Jack Shaoul's direction all go from "invigorating" to "exhausting" in mere milliseconds. At the same time that direction is oddly weak; some moments are meager or halfhearted, and at the most high-strung instances it comes across that the filmmakers are trying to whip everyone into a frenzy to substitute for the substance and earnestness that the proceedings entirely lack. Meanwhile, Shaoul's writing is rather just altogether awful, giving us a narrative that's desperately thin and unconvincing, wretched and unbelievable dialogue, hollow characters we can't begin to care about, scene writing that relentlessly zooms from one half-cooked idea to another, and a steady stream of gags (and where Golddigger is concerned, abject silliness) that could have been amusing if their constancy didn't reduce them to pure inanity.
The latter point is kind of the key to it all, for there is no sense of dynamics in the film. There are no pauses as we're mindlessly launched from one bit to the next, no breaks for comedic or dramatic effect. "Comedic timing" is a term with no meaning here. In the writing and direction and in every other regard the pacing is unnaturally, absurdly accelerated and the zest is artificially, pointlessly elevated. This is to say nothing of some intended humor, and some otherwise choices in the writing and direction (including even Pantoliano's character) that come across as outright racist, and other examples that feel transphobic or ableist. Maybe the overbearing raucousness was deliberate, a tacit admission by Richardson and Shaoul that the screenplay was utter rubbish, but that doesn't make 'Robot in the family' any better - it only accentuates how sloppy and ill-considered the whole affair was, and how questionable the filmmakers' skills were on a fundamental level. The plot and its development are so flimsy that it becomes difficult to find connectivity from one beat to the next; it feels as if Shaoul had nothing more than an outline, and it was on that basis that filming began with the expectation that we viewers would fill in the gaps ourselves. There are flashes in these eighty-five minutes of serviceable story ideas and wit, but for as heedlessly as the flick careens forward in favor of unremitting bombast, these tinges of possibility are simply lost.
Factor in how inconsistently Golddigger is written, and how little the titular figure is even involved in the plot, and it's a marvel that Richardson and Shaoul were able to cobble together a cogent feature in any capacity at all. With all this firmly in mind, I don't think that the filmmakers set out to make a bad movie; very few people do. I just think they were totally incapable of making a good one. At many points the assemblage just comes across as downright senseless, and with the basic construction being as shoddy as it is, the contributions of the cast and crew that are more admirable (to one degree or another) count for nothing. I suppose I'm glad for those who get something more out of this title than I do - I'm just wholly mystified as to how they manage to do it. As far as I'm concerned, even if you're a major fan of someone involved there's simply no fun to be had here whatsoever. Whatever it is you think you'll get out of 'Robot in the family,' I strongly suggest you look for it elsewhere, because this is just rotten from start to finish. -
AntonApple3 November 2006The original title is GOLDDIGGER. IMDb, you should update your listing! ("A Robot In the Family" was a later title used in some markets.) I met the filmmaker, a true "Independent" if a bit naive. He could not get distribution so he even did some additional sound and re-edited the movie to try to please one studio, but did not sell it anyway. When it finally got a distributor, the result was very spotty. So, it's a rare movie. I am amazed any of your viewers saw it! Maybe they found a videotape lying around in a sale bin somewhere.
The movie is actually pretty amusing, if you don't take it so seriously. The problem is more one of classification: It's not a kids movie, despite having a featured role for the son. It's too adult to be for a teen or preteen audience. Maybe college kids can dig it, along with adults with a tolerance for some silly "business" and satirical plot elements that may hit or miss. The "auteur" here was a real amateur when he made this film, so it's akin to a mid-budget student film. But remember, all Indies have to start somewhere. David Lynch and Quentin Tarrantino have come a long way from their first efforts. If you see this movie, please suspend critical disbelief, relax, and enjoy its better qualities. It's like if the film were a spoof or camp, even if maybe it wasn't intended to be. On that level, it succeeds better than some intended spoofs that fail. -
saint_brett16 February 2023Tonight I will cleanse my soul with 'Robot In The Family' after I was violated by that revolting 'Prey' movie I witnessed last night which left a permanent press of distaste in my mouth.
'Robot In The Family' is an Amazing Movies production so how can you go wrong there? (I regret including that in my review.)
Now, what the hell is that? At the start of 'Robot In The Family' some Raiders from that lost arc business steal an Egyptian helmet that has powers not of this Earth. Don't tell me that 'Prey' movie is coming back to haunt me again? It's the same skull helmet Predator was wearing in that offensive 2022 release I watched only last night! Serious?
This is a 1993 release? It looks like something from the late 70's/early 80s.
The title screen for this movie looks like a poor man's 'Weird Science' introduction.
And what is this detailed introduction after the title screen - the inside workings of a poker machine?
What I can detect so far is that it's a Christian movie with actors held to ransom - at gunpoint - to participate in this Amazing Movies release against their wishes.
Isn't that the deranged husband from 'Sleeping With The Enemy?' "Does it give you that much pleasure to humiliate me?"
You can tell in that scene then that the wife was reading off Rocky's Dummy cards.
Actor's fueled by imported drugs from Havana while handicapped by attention deficit syndrome.
What's all this shouting?
Failed z-grade actors roaming the streets of NY pretending to be zany and funny when clearly they're the only ones laughing.
Is that Sallah from Raiders?
All this movie would need right now is for Bobcat Goldthwait to appear and it'd be complete. He'd only add to all the incomprehensible lingo they're speaking at the top of their lungs.
I got a question for any drug addict out there reading this. When you guy's abuse substances, to reach the outer limits of whatever realm you're aiming for, do these same narcotics enhance movies like this? Does it make it easier to follow movies like this? Do you have to be high in order to follow this atrocious Amazing Movie?
Ain't it grand? I find myself in the same situation that I was in last night when watching 'Prey.' I'm sitting here slumped & slouched again while sinking into a pit of despair.
'Robot In The Family' is offensively not even entertaining! Not once have I laughed so far.
If I were wearing a clay face mold right now it'd still be in tact with not one shred of crumbling.
You could balance an egg on your head while watching 'Robot In The Family' and because you resemble a corpse while watching it that egg would sit safe the entire time as not once do you blink, breathe, or stir. You actually find yourself staring into the void that those said drug addicts I was talking about earlier see into.
I had more fun with 'Santa and The Ice Cream Bunny' a while back than this.
Men going undercover dressed as women - that's so 2023.
Guy's foot turns gangrene and doubles in size but the storyline's quickly discarded because it's not even funny.
And where'd the damn robot go in its own movie?
Or, why is it even in this as it's more centered around some silly statue of value.
Seriously, this guy's crossed between Tommy Wiseau and an episode of 'Benny Hill.' He even sounds like 'The Room' fella. It makes sense though! Is 'Robot In The Family' where Tommy Wiseau learned his craft?
This crap has gone full-blown 'Sesame Street' on hillbilly heroin as unqualified actors, and a stupid robot in spandex with pinball parts, do their best to be funny with immature sound effects while trashing a kitchen in a scene that is so third grade stuff.
And yes, this crap does get pleasure from humiliating the viewer apparently!
I wish I could screenshot a picture of my face right now and display how morose I am while viewing this to reflect the true story of this misery. (One's as miserable as the other. I need to get out more.)
The odds are good that those involved with this Amazing Movie were sponsored by Fentanyl itself. (I heard a rumor that all the actors on 'Highway To Hell' were all pepped up on meth when filming. And it showed with the immature acting in that. Take a look at the café scene with Jerry Stiller if you don't believe me.)
I can't report anything at all about 'Robot In The Family' because it's like a rejected Troma movie that didn't make the cut.
Why I insisted on enduring the duration of that punishment I don't know?
It didn't improve.
It told no story.
You got no laughs.
You were insulted how childish and elementary it was.
It was just a bunch of stand-up rejects who persisted in making a movie thinking they were funny when they weren't.
Last Friday I sat in a dentist chair and had two fillings without any anaesthesia and it was more fun being tortured by my dentist than watching this complete waste of time.
Utter rubbish.
It's not even fit for children even though it was most likely drawn up by kindergarteners. -
twiztidhomeboy26 July 2006For a long time my brothers and I have had a competition to see who can find the worst movie ever based on, terrible acting, bad casting, rubbish effects, awful musical direction and cheesy pointless dialogue.
The competition is over. I found, A robot called Goldigger. Or, as it's called on IMDb A robot in the family.
This film sucks so bad, we had to watch it in 10 minute installments over the course of a week, as any more may have caused damage to our senses, it amazes me that Joe Pantoliano is in this movie! He went on to be in the Matrix of course, and perhaps even better, John Ryhs-Davies is in it too! A far cry from being the mighty Dwarf Gimli I'm sure.
The basic premise for this film is that a Dad builds a robot to look after the children as he is so busy with work (I'm not even sure what it was he did) but under no circumstances would you wish a child to be any where near the highly annoying "Goldigger" as he is named. The voice of the robot made my skin crawl for weeks, very creepy indeed, especially as it wasn't meant to be!
Anyway, there is some plot to do with an evil antique dealer player by John Ryhs-Davies, but I wouldn't want to spoil too much!
I am not ripping on this movie, I suggest everyone sees it, you'll appreciate everything else you ever see afterwards.
Now on with my search to find an even worse movie!