I'm quite enamoured with fiction regarding artificial intelligence at the minute, so I jumped at the opportunity to watch this film about a woman who is paired with a humanoid robot who has been programmed to be her ideal partner.

I thought it was a very astute film full of incisive commentary on intimate human relationships and the imperfect nature of love. There was plenty of clever wit throughout, and the performances of Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert were brilliant (Eggert took home the Best Acting award at the Berlin Film Festival). I thought the script by writer-director Maria Schrader was very well written. There's often the risk with films that tackle themes such as these to come across as pretentious, but it was handled well and came across down to earth while also thought-provoking. The minimalistic and isolated score from Tobias Wagner also served well to complement some of the themes of loneliness explored within.

Overall, I'm Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch) is a very refreshing and unique take on the romantic comedy genre with a lot of hidden depth and thoughtfulness. An excellent addition to Maria Schrader's screenwriting and directing career.

And a very advanced one at that, at least in the movie. In an undisclosed time frame, in cosmopolitan Berlin, artificial intelligence has evolved to the point that robots are indistinguishable from humans. A persnickety academic, Alma (Maren Eggert, in a frosty performance I found endearing) is asked to bring such a specimen home, and report back whether it is suitable for long term companionship, not just as a super efficient cook or housekeeper, but as a partner, a lover.

Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) plays the robot Tom, and his performance is a delightful blend of dry witticisms and self-deprecating humor, aware that humans expect a robotic concoction from a 1950s sci-fi movie, and having fun bursting the balloon, although Tom does experience a few glitches along the way. I'm Your Man aims higher than slapstick love machinations. It selectively doles out rom-com tropes, but also finds a poignancy while delicately posing the question of what it means to be human, and whether the artificial version might be as good or better than the real thing.

It would make a good double bill with "Making Mr. Right".