Surrogates is a science fiction / thriller set in the future where robots or "surrogates" do all the daily tasks in life and take all the risks. Work, play, are all performed by anatomically "perfect" persona's of people.  Like a self made Avatar you never know who is on the client side of a surrogate.  In this world there is basically no crime, or murder, and the world is mostly a large Stepford Village in many respects. People, for the most part, have lost there humanity in so many ways.  What is conveniently skipped in this segment of life is how they procreate !  

Dotted around  many cities are robot free zones where an uneasy peace is maintained by the humans that do not participate in this surrogate world.  

When a shocking murder takes place, FBI agent Agent Thomas Greer's surrogate played by Bruce Willis, chases a suspect into the Robot free zone  and discovers a conspiracy in this Utopian world.  He has to shed his surrogate and risk his real life to solve the mystery.  

If you remember Bruce Willis in the film, "The Jackal" you can get a feel for his surrogate look. The difference is they make this persona even younger.  I especially liked the blond hair effect.  Then when you meet the real aged Willis as the real "Agent Greer" you are really shocked.  Ving Rhames plays a character known as "The Prophet" in the robot free zone who has many surprises of his own. I had a hard time seeing Ving as a "Prophet" and not the action star or bad guy thug he has been associated with in so many movie roles.  Then there is the Old aging Dr Lionel Canter, the inventor of the surrogate robots played by veteran actor James Cromwell.  

Today we have the beginnings of this world in the virtual reality space occupied by many people as their sole source of social intercourse. They can be who they think they want to become,  without the risks of ridicule in the real world.  The real danger of course is that they are only happy in world of make believe where they face little to no rejection, don't have to risk any real emotions, and the relationships are all based on assumed persona's. Missing in this world are the  real life experiences of love, fear, excitement, rejection ,acceptance, dreams and goals and family.

The movie addresses this is some ways and for people that enjoy science fiction this is a quick movie, the pace moves along , has a fare amount of action and some violence. In a more subtle way it is a warning.  Life is not to be experienced in the safety of one's home, no matter what the news of the day bares.  I remember going to school alone at age 5, several blocks walking from my home. Riding my bicycle around town at a young age, building forts in construction sites on weekends and playing with dirt clod bombs in make believe and mock war and fights.  We could fight with our best friend and then make up and still be friends. WE would run to the park and pick sides almost every day in the summer to play baseball, break after the game to run home for lunch, and quick get back for the afternoon game. Play induced dreams and desires that later manifested into goals for education, life careers.  

The world wasn't any safer in the 50's ad 60's than it is today.   There must be a constant craving in our pathetic existence that wants to compare our life with others so we can justifiably think that we are in some way thankful not to be that person in the news today.  Surrogates just takes that paranoia to the next level.

I like it over all as a good strong "B" level movie for a matinee.