“D.A.R.Y.L.” is a relatively enjoyable family film, which seems to have roughly the right amount of comedy and seriousness to make it work. Despite serious flaws I felt pleased with it.

Daryl (Barret Oliver “The NeverEnding Story”, “Cocoon”) is a boy with no memory of his family but he is extremely clever. He lives with some foster parents and becomes best friends with another boy named Turtle (Danny Corkill “Dune”). After a while we discover Daryl is a robot and his name is an acronym (D.A.R.Y.L. Data Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform). The government take him and we learn that he’s capable of emotion and just liking things based on flavour (such as ice-cream). Daryl is then scheduled to be destroyed. Can he be saved and reunited with his foster parents?

Barret Oliver does a reasonable job as Daryl. Seen as Daryl is a robot I guess the wooden performance works. I thought the foster parents were a little bland to be honest, which is a shame as if they’d been played well I think that would have helped the film. The character Turtle isn’t very good and neither is the performance. I really wasn’t impressed by the performances overall, which is a true shame.

“D.A.R.Y.L.” made me laugh and “D.A.R.Y.L.” kept me entertained. There is a very silly scene where Daryl and his foster father are playing baseball but they’re batting towards the house, they seem surprised when Daryl hits the ball through the window. The performances weren’t good and the film isn’t very creative but somehow it is nicely done and I just can’t help but recommend it. It’s a movie that I can hardly back up because I’m not quite sure what I liked about it but it has a charm and maybe it’s just one of those movies where you really have to see to understand it.