HEARTBEEPS

title: HEARTBEEPS
year: 1981
cast: Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, Randy Quaid, Christopher Guest
rating: ***

For a movie Andy Kaufman publicly (on David Letterman) apologized for, it isn't so horrible. Two human-like robots, Kaufman and Bernadette Peters, are propped in a back warehouse with a big window. Both stare out at the sunset and want to venture into the forest. On their journey is a comedian robot telling purposefully bad jokes and a tiny cute robot (voiced by Jerry Garcia's guitar) with tractor wheels: much like "Short Circuit" and "Wall-E" years later. The adventure is laidback and has some fun moments. And with a frightening renegade police robot... inspiring two more latter films, "Robocop" and "Chopping Mall"... on their tail: there's even some suspense. Well okay, it's not a great movie, but if you turn off your brain it might just work.