Supremely sexy Susan Sarandon isn't used to getting upstaged by inanimate objects, but the possibility does exist in the unusual little indie Robot & Frank.
Frank Langella stars as one of the title characters - the human one - as a suburban senior citizen suffering from dementia. How we know: When his grown son drops by (James Marsden), Dad asks how college is.
Marsden is so concerned for his elderly dad that he hires a robot to take care of the house and other chores (the film is set sometime in the near future).
Sarandon is Langella's kind-eyed, friendly neighbour, but it is the robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard ) who is No. 1 in Langella's life. They go on all sorts of adventures together, some legal, most not. Apparently, Frank did some nefarious things back when he could remember stuff.
"It's very unusual, yeah!" says Sarandon of the plot.
"That's one of the reasons I wanted to do it. When I read the script I didn't know where it was going and that rarely happens. That was a selling point, for sure"
Another selling point was getting to work with Langella.
"It was another of the attractions. We've been in the same movies, but never worked with each other," said the Oscar winner, 65. "I admire him very much. His performance in this film is so brave and interesting."
As for Sarandon's character, there's a mystery there, and you get to figure out the pair's complicated relationship at the end.
"He's losing his memory and she's just taking care of them like everyone else, kind of keeping an eye on him."
Sarandon thinks employing robots would be swell.
"They have them around now, but they're too pricey for an ordinary person. To clean the house and to cook and to vacuum? Yes!"
Overall, the tone of the set was fun and light.
"When you do a movie when you're not getting paid much . . . anyone who would put themselves in that situation - these are people that are willing to be cheerful under meager circumstances," she says.
"Because otherwise you wouldn't be doing it. That's what makes it very special."
Marsden cracked everybody up and even entertained. "He's very sweet," said Sarandon. "Very funny, too, and a really amazing, talented singer."
A tough gig was being the person who had to actually inhabit the mechanical suit.
"There was a young woman in there," Sarandon explains. "She had some trouble. It was very claustrophobic and uncomfortable and hot. She had to deal with this thing being over her face. It was difficult."
Sarandon is playing her age, and she looks stunning.
When complimented, she demurs.
"I definitely don't look like I used to in the Rocky Horror days, she says, adding. "But really, my advice is don't smoke cigarettes. They will do it to you."
Another thing that keeps her young: running around opening franchises of her table-tennis club Spin (Andre Balazs is putting one in the Standard Hotel in L.A.)
She thinks table tennis is a great game. "I like the idea of it because it cuts across body type, gender and age. And you don't have to put on anyone else's shoes or track down your ball!"
Sarandon doesn't really get into the action, though.
"I'm not someone who's very competitive, so I just play for fun."
