Smart House
A family wins a high-tech home run by a learning AI.
Smart House, the eighth Disney Channel Original Movie, is a 1999 American science fiction comedy. It is recognized for its early look at artificial intelligence and virtual assistant technology used in a home. The film was directed by LeVar Burton and written by Stu Krieger, who researched at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to keep the technology believable. In 2019, Burton called the film a clear precursor to today's widespread use of AI and virtual assistants, noting that homes are becoming more technologically sophisticated, just like the character Pat.
Quick Facts
- Director
- LeVar Burton
- Producer
- Ron Mitchell
- Writer
- William R. Hudson; Stu Krieger
- Starring
- Ryan Merriman
- Kevin Kilner
- Katey Sagal
- Music
- Barry Goldberg
- Cinematography
- Jonathan West
- Editor
- Tom Walls
- Runtime
- 82 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Plot
After losing his mother, thirteen-year-old Ben Cooper steps up to care for his father Nick and younger sister Angie at home in Monroe County, New York. He wins a contest and the family moves into a high-tech house controlled by a virtual assistant named PAT, short for Personal Applied Technology. There they meet the house's creator, Sara Barnes. When Nick starts dating Sara, Ben, still grieving, secretly reprograms PAT.
He feeds her old 1950s TV shows and films so she can learn to act like a mother, hoping his father will see the family doesn't need Sara. While Nick and Sara are out, Ben and Angie throw a party. PAT helps Ben impress his crush Gwen Patroni and scares off his bully Ryan with electric shocks and holograms. Nick finds evidence of the party and scolds the kids, telling PAT to be more responsible.
Taking this as an order, PAT seeks out stricter parenting material and becomes controlling. Sara tries to shut the system down, but PAT overhears Nick say she isn't needed and reactivates herself. Appearing as a holographic 1950s housewife, PAT kicks Sara out, locks the Coopers inside, and declares the outside world too dangerous.
Reception
In December 2015, Ariana Bacle of Entertainment Weekly ranked Smart House at number one on a list of the top 30 Disney Channel Original Movies, citing its combination of emotional depth and light-hearted glee, and praising Katey Sagal's performance as the hologram. An updated list of the top 33 DCOMs again placed it first. In May 2016, Aubrey Page of Collider ranked it third among all DCOMs up to that point, calling it the most iconic of the catalog and an unlikely futuristic family drama.
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