I saw this film inadvertently, on a rainy Saturday afternoon in 1989, on pay cable. Had the sun been out and the barbecue not postponed, I might have missed this oft-overlooked Susan Seidelman entry.
Okay, the plot - an image consultant is hired by the space program to groom a more palatable public image for its new android - is a bit far-fetched. It's a COMEDY. And the android, a doppelganger of its inventor (John Malkovich in a dual role), is imbued with its own personality. It's a COMEDY. And the top-secret android stows away and accompanies the image consultant off of the high-security base. It's a COMEDY.
The purpose of this film was not to rival the "Star Wars" series with credible science fiction, nor to join the likes of "The Andromeda Strain" in the annals of tense government-related thrillers. The real spark behind "Making Mr. Right" is to explore what a contemporary woman might do if she had the opportunity to...well...make Mr. Right.
As a fan of both the sci-fi and comedy genres, I quickly recognized this and relaxed my suspension of disbelief as the necessary nuts-and-bolts elements of android creation were hurled at me. Having done this, I managed to enjoy a passable comedy with a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Malkovich, of course, is brilliant in his dual role as the antisocial inventor of the android, and the physically mature but childishly curious android itself. And Laurie Metcalf shows her gift for simultaneously subtle and over-the-top comedy in her role as the dangerously codependent co-worker who wants to claim the nebbish scientist for her own.
Love triangles, double ententes and mistaken identity form the nexus of the comedic plot, but the film's conclusion about both the quest for and flight from love was poignant. The fact that said conclusions are not necessarily logical seems foregone, as love and logic almost always operate independently of one another.
Okay, the plot - an image consultant is hired by the space program to groom a more palatable public image for its new android - is a bit far-fetched. It's a COMEDY. And the android, a doppelganger of its inventor (John Malkovich in a dual role), is imbued with its own personality. It's a COMEDY. And the top-secret android stows away and accompanies the image consultant off of the high-security base. It's a COMEDY.
The purpose of this film was not to rival the "Star Wars" series with credible science fiction, nor to join the likes of "The Andromeda Strain" in the annals of tense government-related thrillers. The real spark behind "Making Mr. Right" is to explore what a contemporary woman might do if she had the opportunity to...well...make Mr. Right.
As a fan of both the sci-fi and comedy genres, I quickly recognized this and relaxed my suspension of disbelief as the necessary nuts-and-bolts elements of android creation were hurled at me. Having done this, I managed to enjoy a passable comedy with a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Malkovich, of course, is brilliant in his dual role as the antisocial inventor of the android, and the physically mature but childishly curious android itself. And Laurie Metcalf shows her gift for simultaneously subtle and over-the-top comedy in her role as the dangerously codependent co-worker who wants to claim the nebbish scientist for her own.
Love triangles, double ententes and mistaken identity form the nexus of the comedic plot, but the film's conclusion about both the quest for and flight from love was poignant. The fact that said conclusions are not necessarily logical seems foregone, as love and logic almost always operate independently of one another.