Set against Miami’s sun-drenched pastel colours and Art Deco architecture, this retrofuturistic genre hybrid of science fiction and romantic comedy is an open rebuttal to the dystopian laser- and lightsabre-fuelled frenzy of the 1980s. In a dual role, John Malkovich plays both the inhibited scientist Jeff Peters and the Ulysses android he creates in his own image (at least physically), designed as a supremely capable space traveller. The public side of the project is entrusted to the fast-talking PR specialist Frankie Stone (Ann Magnuson), but the pragmatically cold and rebellious Ulysses unexpectedly begins to display new, distinctly affectionate feelings…
This gender role-reversed Pygmalion story touches on the best worlds of Jerry Lewis, and the chemistry between the actors feels entirely natural, as husband and wife Malkovich and Glenne Headly, with Laurie Metcalf playing Sandy, who neurotically and obsessively pursues the scientist nerd, were all members of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. On the basis of this performance alone, one might have predicted a far more international career for Ann Magnuson, whose wiseacre yuppie-flapper is deftly drawn, and overall, Making Mr. Right admirably continues a particular setup chacteristic to many films of the decade, in which women fall in love not with scoundrels, but with robots or visitors from outer space.
Lauri Timonen