A Robot and His Inventor Try to Make Their Living Arrangement Work

David Earl and Chris Hayward in 
"Brian and Charles"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 2017, director Jim Archer developed a 12-minute short film for YouTube called “Brian and Charles,” which told the story of a man named Brian (David Earl), who lives a solitary life in the English countryside as an inventor.  During one tough winter, the loneliness becomes too much for Brian, and he decides to build a robot, who he names Charles (Chris Hayward).  What followed was a funny account of the two of them being at odds with one another and needing to find a way to live in peace.

Archer now makes his feature debut for a full-length adaptation of the same name, a film that delivers the charm and wit of what came before.

Earl, who reprises his role from the short film, presents an individual who’s endearing, funny, awkward, and achingly lonely.  We see him as someone who’s timid about being more outspoken, but we view significant changes in him as he begins to interact with Charles and take care of him, eventually emerging as more forthcoming because of how strict he has to be to protect Charles from people who might want to hurt him.    

Hayward provides a terrific voice performance as Charles.  He has a great mix of robotic inflections and an English-gentleman accent, which develop a humorous edge as he becomes more defiant and develops an adolescent-like need for rebellion against his guardian.  However, Charles’ voice also builds some emotion as his need to rebel gets stronger and his frustration grows as he continues to be held back by Brian, wanting to have chance to go out on his own.

The screenplay by Earl and Hayward, both of whom wrote the short film, may seem a tad strained at times when trying to stretch the runtime to just about 90 minutes, but you’re nonetheless drawn into the small-scale misadventures that befall the titular characters.  We see the relationship between Brian and Charles unfold with a friendship, tension, and then understanding.  And, as Brian tries to come into is own to be a more assertive person, Charles wishes to go out in the world and explore everything that it has to offer, with both arcs showing these two characters evolving into the kind of individuals they want to be.

As a director, Archer shows the connection between a human and a robot develop without it becoming too cloying.  Rather, he has the two main characters show their emotions in a grounded way that keeps you invested in the tests that their bond faces as both internal and external forces threaten the camaraderie that they’ve built.  Also, despite the nature of the film’s premise, Archer prevents the movie from being overtaken by the indie quirkiness that could have appeared.

With cinema’s latest human-robot bond, “Brian and Charles” is the story of a friendship that goes beyond the divide between heartbeats and circuitry.

Grade: A-