After making a splash at the Sundance Film Festival, the indie comedy hit Brian and Charles has made its way to theaters and is sure to warm hearts. Buddy comedies are nothing new, but the film’s unique premise of a man becoming best friends with the robot he built helps it stand out amongst the rest.
Unconventional friendship is at the heart of the film, and few movies have captured the theme with as much hilarious gusto. From family hits like The Iron Giant, to independent sensations like Lost in Translation, there are a plethora of great films to explore after watching Brian and Charles.
Short Circuit (1986)
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Humanity is at the heart of many stories, and Short Circuit aimed to imbue humanity to a robot. At a robotics lab, experiment Number 5 is accidentally zapped by lightning and given sentience. After escaping, Number 5 must evade reprogramming and attempt to convince his creator that he is alive.
Quirky robot pals are a classic movie trope, and Number 5 was perhaps one of the most memorable of the 1980s. Like his counterpart Charles in Brian and Charles, Number 5 helps the human characters experience more of what it means to be human, and in a way he emboldens them to take control of their own lives.
Robot And Frank (2012)
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Robot and Frank used its quirky premise to comment on the loneliness of aging, while also delivering a hilarious tale. Frank is a retired jewel thief who is gifted a robotic butler to look after him in his older age. Soon, the Robot and Frank team up to conduct one last daring heist.
Frank Langella’s performance is riveting, and he has phenomenal chemistry with his robot pal. The drama of the film’s themes is perfectly balanced with its humor, and the audience revels in seeing Frank overcome society’s restrictions on him, with the help of his unconventional cybernetic friend.
Lars And The Real Girl (2007)
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In Brian and Charles, Brian constructs a robot friend that helps him deal with his own personal issues, and in many ways, Lars and the Real Girl is a similar story. Lars is a lonely and somewhat delusional young man who strikes up a romantic relationship with a lifelike doll that he finds on the internet.
On the surface, the film is essentially based on the joke that Lars is in love with a sex doll, but the film is nevertheless a commentary on the isolating loneliness of modern society. Lars deals with his own problems through unconventional means, and though those means are hilarious, they eventually become accepted by those around him. Lars and the Real Girl is a comedy, but it doesn’t pull any dramatic punches either.
Sideways (2004)
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Comedies take on all shapes and styles, and while some are quirky, others play it more straight for a somewhat cerebral laugh. Sideways is the story of two middle-aged men who go on a wine tour in California before one of them gets married.
This is one of the best films of Paul Giamatti’s career, and it is his character who bears most of the emotional weight. Miles is a lonely person, and though he is surrounded by people, he can’t seem to connect. Unlike the physical isolation of Brian and Charles, the emotional isolation of Sideways is just as real. Like most Alexander Payne films, Sideways manages to tell an uproariously funny story that could also pass as a character drama below the surface.
Rushmore (1998)
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If creating a robot is considered a healthy coping mechanism, then the events of Wes Anderson’s Rushmore would fall in the unhealthy category. Max is a student at a prestigious boarding school who falls for his teacher, and makes friends with a wealthy industrialist. When Max learns that the two are having an affair, he sets out to get revenge.
Rushmore is filled with Wes Anderson’s signature tropes, and yet its style never gets in the way of the story. Max is obviously dealing with a lot as a precocious teen, and his burgeoning interest in the opposite sex has sent him on a spiral. In the end, Max learns that the people around him are also dealing with their own problems, but the path to acquiring that knowledge is where the humor comes from.
Lost In Translation (2003)
Rent on iTunes
Unconventional friendships don’t have to go as far as creating an intelligent robot companion; sometimes a societal mismatch is enough to spark chemistry. Lost in Translation is the story of a washed up actor who is in Japan for business, where he meets a lonely young woman who’s husband ignores her.
What Lost in Translation does best is defy the expectations that cinema has put on relationships between men and women. The friendship between the two main characters is entirely platonic, and they help each other conquer their loneliness. The film is comedic in tone, but ultimately there is enough meat on its bones to make it a full fledged drama.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Stream on Disney+
Disney is no stranger to compelling stories that strike at the heart of the human condition, and Big Hero 6 was one of their most ambitious. After the death of his older brother, Hiro forms an unlikely friendship with a medical bot named Baymax.
Part superhero story, part family comedy, and part drama, Big Hero 6 wore all of its hats extremely well. Hiro’s survivor’s guilt and general depression are some of the most complicated themes in a Disney film, and they’re handled with care. On top of that, Baymax is one of the best robots in movie history.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Rent on iTunes
Aliens are usually depicted as evil beings, but E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial gave viewers a peaceful alien to root for. Elliot is a troubled child who befriends a kind alien that accidentally got trapped on Earth. Their friendship takes a turn for the dramatic when Elliot decides to help E.T. return home.
Childhood is a lonely time for many, and Elliot represented the mindset of a lot of the film’s younger audience. E.T. is the friend Elliot always needed, and their exploits help the young child come out of his shell and cope with his life. Steven Spielberg was on a roll when he made E.T., and with it, he delivered one of the definitive pieces of 1980s cinema.
Her (2013)
Rent on iTunes
The internet was designed as a tool to connect people, but Her explores how it can actually drive them apart. A lonely man living in the near future develops a relationship with an A.I. program that is designed to serve his every whim.
Unlike Brian’s friendship with Charles, which helps him come out of his shell, the relationship in Her actually serves to further isolate the main character. When faced with actual relationships, he instead retreats back to his comfort zone in an unsubtle commentary about the nature of technology. While Her is a film about unconventional friendships, it actually shows the theme from the other side of the coin.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Stream on HBO Max
As with its predecessor E.T., The Iron Giant took a traditionally scary story and turned it into something positive. Hogarth Hughes is a young boy who befriends a giant alien robot that comes to Earth near his small town. When government agents want to destroy the peaceful giant, Hogarth does whatever he can to protect his new friend.
Shown to be averse to traditional friendships, Hogarth fits right in with his ostracized metallic companion. While the outside world may not understand the Iron Giant, Hogarth can relate to him, and his quest to protect his friend helps him grow as a character. As with most unconventional buddy movies, the oddball friendship helps the character come to see the world in a different way.
