CLEVER `BICENTENNIAL MAN' MISSES THE BIG PICTURE.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Imagine Sam Neill as a rather open-minded 19th-century Southerner, one who treats a slave as nicely as anyone who ever kept another human being as property.

Picture Robin Williams as his butler, a subservient, gentle-natured fellow who, as he often says, ``is glad to be of service.'' Inside, he never stops yearning to be free, if only in the legal sense, while keeping his post with ``Sir'' and his family.

Fast-forward that scenario 150 years and then some, and you have ``Bicentennial Man,'' director Chris Columbus' adaptation of a short story by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov. It is a story worth telling, especially to young audiences who seek out Williams' movies, if only it didn't feel as though it took 200 years to tell it.

Williams plays a robot dubbed Andrew by the San Francisco family who acquires him fresh from the factory sometime ``in the near future.'' It is apparent early on that Andrew is no ordinary NorthAm Robotics model NDR-114. He seems to feel some emotions, at least on a primitive level.

Rather than trying to suppress Andrew's ambitions to understand the human condition, Sir decides his family will treat Andrew as a person - albeit one who probably has been purchased on a payment plan - and he encourages the machine's curiosity.

Over the years, Andrew evolves in both emotional and intellectual development, and undergoes physical advancements that enable him to smile, for example.

But there's no denying he's still a robot, an ageless piece of machinery that outlives Sir, Ma'am and their daughter, Little Miss, and still doesn't know how to mourn their loss.

While wealthy Americans spend time and money trying to postpone the inevitable, Andrew never ceases his quest to be mortal, to feel the extreme highs and lows and aches and pains humans go through on their way to death. It takes him 200 years to realize that goal.

To his credit, Williams lets his personality shine through the most inhuman of his costumes; somehow he transcends the glassy eyes, the hinged mouth and the stiff joints to give Andrew the unique quality apparent to his master. But often there is too much of Williams in the role - either the actor himself or one of his past characters. It's almost as if Andrew were channeling Mrs. Doubtfire and Mork at a seance.

Embeth Davidtz holds her own in a dual role as the adult Little Miss and, later, her granddaughter Portia. She has risen to the challenge of aging as two different women, both of them dear to Andrew.

Just when Williams' role turns serious, Oliver Platt and Kiersten Warren lighten up the movie as a late 21st century inventor and his overly perky robot assistant.

Steve Johnson's robotic effects (and yes, Andrew is most often Williams in a suit) are quite good. Norman Reynolds' fanciful impressions of futuristic San Francisco are appealing in a ``Tomorrowland'' sort of way.

It's not often that Columbus (``Home Alone'' and ``Jingle All the Way'') is associated with food-for-thought movies.

In ``Bicentennial Man'' he has an important fable about the values of freedom and human life. Unfortunately, with the pace set by Columbus and screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, their most important audience may lose interest before they get the message.

The facts

The film: ``Bicentennial Man'' (PG; some profanity and adult themes).

The stars: Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Embeth Davidtz, Oliver Platt.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Chris Columbus. Written by Nicholas Kazan. Released by Touchstone Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, 12 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo

Photo: Andrew the robot (Robin Williams) discovers what it means to be human with the help of Little Miss (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) in ``Bicentennial Man.''