What the critics don't say is that Bicentennial Man is intelligent, and carefully crafted, with special effects that are effective, but never intrusive. The one giant misstep is to turn this into a love story. The Pinocchio story, which is also the story of the Velveteen Rabbit and of the Tin Man , was never a love story. It is the story of the desire to be real. It is a powerful story, which always brings tears.
Love stories are also powerful.
This one gets in the way. There is nothing wrong with having Andrew fall in love. That is part of becoming human. But it is a serious mistake to turn the last half of Bicentennial Man into a love story. For one thing, love stories are about boy meets girl.