Who Plays Who?

Bruce Willis Radha Mitchell Rosamund Pike Max Murphy Boris Kodjoe James Francis Ginty James Cromwell Ving Rhames Jack Noseworthy Devin Ratray Michael Cudlitz Jeffrey De Serrano Danny Smith Brian Parrish Jennifer Alden Shane Dzicek Lisa Hernandez Kirk Hawkins Taylor Cole Jordan Belfi J.L. Highsmith Nicholas Purcell Edward McCabe Victor Webster David Klefeker Valerie Azlynn Michael O'Toole

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Tom Greer Peters Maggie Captain Stone Canter Older Canter The Prophet Strickland Bobby Colonel Brendon Armando Victim Hard Hat Landlady Jarid Canter Female Newscaster Male Newscaster Female Lawyer Victor Welch Steinberg Pulaski/Commando Controller/Commando Lopez Cop Bridget Hirosuke

What Do The Critics Say

"Entertaining, suspenseful, and original, "Surrogates" is a first-rate sci-fi action thriller that has something pertinent to say about the times we live in. At 88 minutes, "Surrogates" moves like lightning thanks to Jonathan Mostow's assured direction and a story line even "Twilight Zone" creator Rod Serling would be proud of. See it for yourself, but leave your surrogate at home." Pete Hammond BACK STAGE "Like most good sci-fi, the story considers the human ramifications of advanced technology while still doling out plenty of just-for-kicks entertainment and nifty 'what if?' scenarios. Yhis isn't groundbreaking stuff. But it's smart and enjoyable, and the message is "go outside, nerds!," which is always nice to hear. One of the year's more entertaining sci-fi films." FILM.COM "Considerable fun is had at the sight of the grizzled "real" Willis after the surrogate version is wrecked: "you look terrible", a work colleague helpfully observes; and Willis's battered fizzog is further smashed up in what has become regulation style. Enough sugar-rush energy to ensure it's never dull." Andrew Pulver UK GUARDIAN "Based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, the film inserts a murder-mystery into this environment and then spins it into a grand conspiracy. Yet, the whole thing flashes by in less than an hour and a half. The film moves along so quickly, and the surrogate world look is so eerie." Tom Long DETROIT NEWS "There's fun robot stuff, some good philosophical ideas, and a brief, nutty Willis-Ving Rhames reunion 15 years after Pulp Fiction." Lisa Schwarzbaum ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "even though the picture ultimately carries a heavy-duty moral about the dehumanizing effects of machines, Mostow doesn't approach the material with deadly solemnity. Surrogates stays afloat by not taking itself too seriously, but also by recognizing that a movie about robots shouldn't look as if it were made by one." Stephanie Zacharek SALON.COM

"We’re already in world where people without a life can experience a second one courtesy of a technologically sophisticated virtual existence. In director Jonathan Mostow’s nifty sci-fi thriller this de-humanisingly sad concept is taken a step further with people living an exciting life remotely from the safety of their own bedrooms. Robotic surrogates: proxy servers if you like; can act out the mechanics, from sex to extreme sports, and relay back the sensations to the wired up human instigator lying on a recliner at home. It all sounds like a utopian breeze. A more cerebral thriller than your standard sci-fi fare, Mostow strikes just the right balance between in-your-face action (an impressive car chase where pedestrian surrogates are skittled) and social comment on technology as a lifestyle." Tim Evans SKY MOVIES "Imagine a world free of racism, sexism, disease and very little crime free to explore without ever leaving the house. This is life on Earth set several years in the future in "Surrogates," a thrilling and thought-provoking science fiction flick starring Bruce Willis. Fun entertainment and definitely worth seeing for fans of science-fiction/high concept films." Jeffrey Lyles GAZETTE "Bruce Willis returns to familiar form as the grizzled, disenchanted cop in Jonathan Mostow's suspense thriller "Surrogates". The big success here is the philosophy. In a world where Facebook, MySpace, and SecondLife is leading us like rats into a computerized existence, the surrogate theme is entirely believable and well executed. Surrogates leaves you wanting more." Julian Roman MOVIEWEB "Visual effects form the heartbeat of the film and the technicals are all extraordinary. There are some very good elements including the eerie way surrogates are portrayed as both miracles and perversions. There's no faulting the cast, however. Bruce Willis can't go wrong playing the reluctant hero, and here, there is extra fascination, when digital make-up and a 3D mask allows him to look 20 years younger. Radha Mitchell is effective as Greer's FBI side-kick Peters, whose surrogate persona also has a robotic perfection." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

The Inside Story "The premise of the movie is that surrogacy has taken over the world like cell phones and computers," says director 2004 World Stunt Awards Action Director Jonathan Mostow. "Surrogates are new devices that offer users the opportunity to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. In our film, surrogates represent the ultimate freedom, from both physical harm and the mental toll of everyday life. Pleasure is achievable simply by plugging in. "But for some, surrogacy feels like the abandonment of humanity itself. In a world where actual physical contact is increasingly rare, does the very notion of love threaten to lose its meaning? Those are some of the ideas we explore in our story." First-time author Robert Venditti came up with the unique premise while working at Top Shelf Publications in their shipping warehouse in suburban Atlanta. Looking for a new spin on the graphic novel, Venditti recalled a sociology book he had read for one of his graduate school courses which depicted 'an actual study of people who played one of those early community type online games.' "I was fascinated by how these people just became so involved in this game, creating these alternate personas for themselves. They became so identified with them that they would lose their jobs, their marriages, because they just couldn’t separate their lives from this persona that they created. It was an idea that stuck with me: the basic human desire to be something other than oneself." The author fleshed out his idea further by imagining various reasons people would have for using a surrogate. "My idea was to create this persona that would go to work and earn money for you, a practical reason for having a surrogate. I looked at the idea of self-improvement, where these surrogates represent plastic surgery to the extreme where you could maintain yourself as forever young, or be more muscular: look like your dream self." "The story has always spoken to me about technology versus humanity," producer Hoberman ("Eight Below", "The Shaggy Dog" & "Beverly Hills Chihuahua") says. "I am someone who has come very late to computers, the Internet, email and iPhones. Until recently, I knew nothing. This story addressed, in a compelling manner, what would happen if everybody basically lived inside a computer, and their lives were being lived by someone else out there. It just spoke to where technology is going. I think it also spoke to plastic surgery and things people do to their bodies. I thought it was an interesting idea to explore in a film." "This movie is a mystery, a detective story, with Bruce Willis as an FBI agent whose investigation into the mysterious murder of a surrogate finds the hero confronting a conspiracy that calls into question the very definition of humanity," says Mostow ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"). "It’s a cautionary tale about how people live their lives in this technological world of today," adds Hoberman. "The core idea of "Surrogates" is how we retain our humanity in this increasingly, relentlessly technological world that we live in," says Mostow. "The fantasy of technology is that it frees us to be creative, productive and to do all these wonderful things. The flip side to that is that we wind up being servants to it in a certain way. We’re tethered to our cell phones, to our BlackBerries. It’s great to have email, but when you spend hours a day returning emails, it becomes an obligation. So, these new opportunities and possibilities in life also restrain us in certain ways." Producer Max Handelman, a lifelong comic book aficionado, optioned the graphic novel from Venditti. He found the story’s themes compelling. "The story really moves along at a great pace and allows you to imagine something that could impact our society someday. Are we all going to have surrogates? Probably not. But it’s a metaphor for our society’s increasing reliance on technology and increasingly virtual communication." Handelman (husband of actress and the films Executive Producer Elizabeth Banks) brought the comic to a college friend, veteran producer Todd Lieberman ("The Proposal"), who is partnered with longtime industry producer and studio executive David Hoberman at Mandeville Films. "I was looking for something with an edge, a film noir-type story and I found that in Robert’s story," says Lieberman. "The movie starts with two really attractive people outside of a club. All of the sudden, some guy approaches and they fall dead. You have no idea what’s going on. In comes a detective, Bruce Willis’ character, and his partner (Mitchell's, Peters). And you realize pretty quickly that we’re living in a world that’s not our world." Jonathan Mostow agreed to direct the film; his longtime writing partners, John Brancato and Michael Ferris ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines " & TV telefilm "Flight of Black Angel"), were tapped to tackle the script, marking a professional reunion for the trio of Harvard University alums. "As soon as Mike and I read the graphic novel, we felt it could make a great film," says Brancato ("Terminator Salvation"). "The concept of surrogacy speaks to the modern condition in ways direct and oblique, a metaphor at once for the Internet, plastic surgery, addiction, role-playing games. Not to mention outer versus inner selves." To capture the flavor the writers sought to depict in this present-day/near-future universe populated almost exclusively by robots, the pair began to research the technology that reflected Venditti’s ideas in the graphic novel. Their studies led the scripters to a Japanese scientist named Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has been using a plastic version of himself to lecture around the world without leaving his Osaka office. They also uncovered a rhesus monkey in North Carolina that has been wired to make a robot in Kyoto walk, merely by thinking. The technology continues to improve with groundbreaking advances that are already benefiting people with debilitating diseases. The films roster of characters includes idealized robots as well as real-life humans. Most cast members were asked to play both. To bring "Surrogates" conflicted FBI agent to life, the filmmakers turned to a global superstar: two time EMMY Award and two time Blockbuster Entertainment Award winner Bruce Willis. "He’s really one of the great film actors of his generation," says Mostow ("U-571" & "Breakdown"). "It’s a very specific skill to be able to pull off movies that have a very high-concept idea behind them. Here, it’s an alternative reality, and yet he makes it credible. That’s really his gift." "The thing about Bruce is he plays a great cop, but he also plays a great Everyman," says Hoberman. "Both from a philosophical and theoretical perspective, that’s what this character is. As he goes through this journey, he discovers what humanity versus surrogacy is, which leads his character to a great crisis. The movie also has action and all the things you’d want to see in a Bruce Willis movie." "The humanity comes through in Bruce’s character," Mostow says. "Like everyone else, he goes about his daily grind using this technology." "He’s an FBI agent who stays at home, in the safety of his apartment, and allows his robotic surrogate to go out and perform all the dangerous tasks that are involved with his work. At a certain point, he loses his surrogate and is forced to go out as himself and experience life as a human being again in a world that is completely technological and robotic. At the same time, he discovers feelings that have been building up inside of him about his own disconnection from his wife, who’s addicted to using her surrogate," Mostow notes. "I see Greer as someone who has lived in and embraced the surrogate world for some time," Hoberman adds. "Once his surrogate is destroyed and he can’t get another one, he’s a man, a human, out there in the world. Eventually he has to make a choice." The filmmakers called on Australian actress Radha Mitchell ("Man on Fire") for Greer’s FBI partner Jennifer Peters. "Peters is an interesting character because she is actually three different people in the movie," says Lieberman. "She’s the Peters surrogate who is a slightly newer, naïve cop, partnered up with Greer." "Through the character of Jennifer Peters, the whole concept of identity is constantly in question," Mitchell offered. "It’s such an interesting character, or characters, to play. Who is Jennifer Peters? She is a character who sits at home in her stim chair, one we never really get to meet as a human." 2005 British Independent Film Award winner Rosamund Pike ("The Libertine") was tapped to portray Maggie, Greer’s surrogate-obsessed wife. "Maggie is beautiful, but sees only imperfections," says Hoberman. "She wants to look in the mirror and see only beauty. For Greer, beauty is about what’s on the inside, not what’s on the outside. He fell in love with her for who she was, not for what she looked like." "Greer and Maggie are a very real couple who’ve lost a child, which he deals with by immersing himself in work, so she has to deal with it all on her own," says Pike ("Die Another Day"). "Because she feels so inadequate, her surrogate offers her perfection. Their interactions become all about two robots meeting, not the two real people." To embody the role of Canter, the mastermind behind the groundbreaking surrogate phenomenon, the filmmakers turned to two actors: James Francis Ginty ("K-19: The Widowmaker") portrays the youthful version of Canter, while 2007 King Vidor Memorial Award winner James Cromwell serves as the older Canter. "Canter is not a messiah," Ginty says. "In fact, I think his overriding motive was very selfless. Early in his life, he was afflicted with a dreadful condition. From that experience, he focused his energy towards bettering the world. So, he created surrogates to help people who were sick." "But the technology got exploited when a big conglomerate took it over and made it for everyone," Hoberman adds. "Canter, who created surrogacy, believes it has gone beyond his original intentions," Mostow adds. "Technology becomes a lifestyle," says Lieberman ("Traitor"). "That seems to happen with a lot of technology. It pervades society and people then depend on it in their lives. What would we do today without the Internet? Without cell phones? It’s hard to imagine. In this world, what would they do without surrogates?" "The story’s just meant to raise such questions," Venditti concludes. "I don’t know the answers to the questions. When I wrote the story, I wanted people to see the good uses surrogates would present to society, as well as the bad ones." Synopsis

Imagine a world where you can be anyone. Do anything. Go anywhere. Finally you can live the life you want without any danger to yourself. People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates: sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves, that, if you have the right pension plan or money, can be upgraded and remodeled on request. It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don’t exist. They have fail-safe programmes to protect their operators. Up until now. When the first operator murders in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer discovers a conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery. First the computer. Then the Internet, email and tiny cell phones. Today, sexy robotic surrogates fill in for their less attractive human counterparts: regular people who no longer have to venture out into the real world themselves. In this world of the future, has technology gone too far?

The Verdict "Bruce Willis shows yet again why he's so popular with cinema audiences in his latest film, "Surrogates", an enthralling drama/thriller about a generation of humans who live their lives through robotic substitutes. Surrogates that, unlike their human controllers, retain a flawless appearance, despite the passage of time. The CGI and SFX work a treat. The action sequences are, as one would expect from a film in which Willis is the star, excellent. One of those rare films that sets such a cracking pace, when the end comes you feel as though you've just stepped into the cinema. Begs the question: how far can technology go? 4 1/2 STARS." The Production Team

Director Screenplay Graphic novel Original Music D.O.P Film Editor Casting Production Designer Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Jonathan Mostow Michael Ferris & John Brancato Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele/Todd Lieberman Richard Marvin Oliver Wood Kevin Stitt Janet Hirshenson/Jane Jenkins/Michelle Lewitt Jeff Mann Tom Reta Debbie Cutler/Basia Goszczynska/Fainche MacCarthy April Ferry

Run Time 88 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2009 - Walt Disney Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2009 All Rights Reserved The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.