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"Real Steel" imagines a near future when human boxers have been replaced by robots. Well, why not? Matches between small fighting robot machines are popular enough to be on television, but in "Real Steel," these robots are towering, computer-controlled machines with nimble footwork and instinctive balance. (In the real world, 'bots can be rendered helpless on their backs, like turtles.) It also must be said that in color and design, the robots of "Real Steel" are glamorous and futuristic-retro enough to pose for the cover of Thrilling Wonder Stories.

The movie's story, however, is not from the future but from the past, cobbling together Rocky's rags-to-riches trajectory and countless movies in which estranged fathers and sons find themselves forced together and end up forging a deep bond. Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who is now hanging onto the fringes of the fight game as the owner-operator of a ramshackle robot he tours with. It's no match for the competition, and when the desperate Charlie replaces it with another battered veteran, it can't even outfight a real bull.

Even during these early fight scenes, however, it's clear than the movements of the robots are superbly choreographed. My complaint about the battling Transformers of the movies series is that they resemble incomprehensible piles of auto parts thrown at each other. Fast cutting is used to disguise the lack of spatial continuity. "Real Steel," however, slows down the fight action enough so that we can actually perceive it, and the boxing makes sense.

OK, OK, it doesn't completely make sense, because when one of these behemoths slugs the other with a right cross to the jaw, we're wondering (1) shouldn't one of those punches cause as much damage as a car wreck, and (2) why do robots have jaws? For that matter, why are they humanoid at all? "Real Steel" doesn't pause for logical explanations. In this world, robots do the work that human boxers used to do. (Sugar Ray Leonard was a consultant on the fight scenes.) The director is Shawn Levy , who didn't endear himself to me with the "Night at the Museum" movies, but gets on base with this one.

If the movie were all robot fights it might be as unbearable as — well, a Transformers title. Drama enters in the person of Charlie's son, Max Kenton ( Dakota Goyo ), a smart, resilient pre-teen who, like all kids, seems to have been genetically programmed to understand computers, video games and all allied fields. Charlie is a very bad absent father, and as played by Hugh Jackman, he is actually mean toward his boy. Charlie's sister ( Hope Davis ) and her husband ( James Rebhorn ) plan to adopt the boy, but in a complicated arrangement, Charlie first has to take care of Max for a summer.

This Max is some kid. He loves robots. During a scouting expedition in a 'bot junk yard, he comes upon an ancient training robot named Atom literally covered in mud and convinces his dad this relic still has fighting potential. Amazingly, it hasn't entirely rusted away, and father and son rehab it and teach it some new tricks. One of its abilities is a "mirror mode," which allows it to mimic the motions of its controller. Since Charlie is a has-been boxer, Max has faith that Atom can win as his dad's avatar.

All of course leads up to a big match with a fearsome juggernaut named Zeus. To my amazement, this fight scene is as entertaining and involving as most human fights, and the off-screen story (involving Zeus' odious owners) adds interest. It's hard to hate a robot, but not its owners.

Curiously, however, it's easy to love Atom. With his blue eyes glowing behind a face of steel mesh and his skinny, muscular body facing off against giants, he's a likable underdog. Steven Spielberg was one of the producers of this film, and knowing of the research he put into making E. T. lovable, I wonder if screen-testing was used to help design Atom. You wouldn't say he looked cute, but there is something about him that's much more appealing that his shiny high-tech rivals.

"Real Steel" is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. This is the sort of movie, I suspect, young viewers went to the " Transformers " movies looking for. Readers have told me they loved and identified with their Transformers toys as children. Atom must come close to representing their fantasies. Sometimes you go into a movie with low expectations and are pleasantly surprised.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Real Steel (2011)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language

127 minutes

Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton

Dakota Goyo as Max

Evangeline Lilly as Bailey

Anthony Mackie as Finn

Kevin Durand as Ricky

Hope Davis as Deborah

James Rebhorn as Marvin

Directed by

• John Gatins

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Real Steel Ending, Explained

‘Real Steel’ is a sports movie that replaces human opponents with robots. Set in a near-future where human boxers have been replaced by robots, it focuses on the story of a man who reconnects with his estranged son through their shared love for the sport. The film is an entertaining drama that has all that any underdog story would need. Despite its pretty straight-forward story, there are a couple of things that leave us pondering about it. If you haven’t seen the film yet, bookmark this article for later. SPOILERS AHEAD

Plot Summary

Charlie Kenton is an ex-boxer who is trying to make some money through the business of robot fighting. However, no matter how strong a robot he has, he always loses, mostly because of his ill-timed decisions. He is drowning in debt and running away from the ones whom he owes money when the news of his ex-girlfriend’s death is delivered to him. It turns out that his eleven-year-old son, whom he had abandoned a long time ago, has no one but him now. Debra, Max’s aunt, tries to get his custody, but Charlie needs to sign off on it. He sees this as an opportunity and gets Debra’s rich husband, Marvin, to pay for giving away Max to them. The only catch here is that Charlie needs to keep Max for a month because Debra and Marvin have a trip planned to Italy that they cannot cancel. Charlie agrees to this and as Max accompanies him on his quest to make money through robot fighting, they discover an outdated robot named Atom abandoned in a junkyard.

As Atom wins fights, he starts to turn into a local legend and soon enough, finds his way to the League matches. His first fight is against Twin Cities, and Charlie believes that they might not make it out of this one. A surprise arrives for the Kenton duo when they are invited to the Zeus suite, where Ferra Lemkova offers to buy Atom for a substantial sum of money. Charlie jumps at the offer, believing it would solve all of his monetary problems, but Max says that Atom is not for sale. With little to no hope of winning, they start to turn heads when Atom makes it out of the first round and then beats Twin Cities. In the spur of the moment, Max challenges Zeus to a fight. Things heat up for Charlie when Ricky catches up with him. He beats him and takes away all the money he had won. This leads Charlie to reflect on his lifestyle and how it affects Max. He decides to drop him back at Marvin and Debra’s. Later, however, he starts to miss him and when Zeus accepts the challenges, he goes back to Max, apologizes to him for all that he had done, and asks for a chance to make amends.

The fight with Zeus looks like a suicidal quest for Atom, but the robot proves his mettle once again and survives one round after another. He is beaten to a pulp several times but perseveres, and in the process, wins over the audience. By the final round, some of his functions are damaged and he doesn’t respond to Charlie’s voice commands. Max advises him to fight using shadow mode. In the final round, Charlie and Atom fight as one and they succeed in smashing Zeus, though not completely defeating him. In all of the rounds, neither Zeus nor Atom had been properly defeated, with both getting saved by the bell and surviving for the next round. This technicality leaves the decision of winning the challenge on the overall judge’s scores. In what turns out to be a close call, Zeus wins the challenge, but it becomes clear that Atom has emerged as the true hero of the fight.

Is Atom Sentient?

One of the things that ‘Real Steel’ hints at but never quite explores is the nature of Atom. Over the course of events, the robot becomes an important part of the Kenton family, with every single person getting attached to him as they would to any other human. This gives a human air to him and as thousands of people cheer for him in the fight against Zeus, we feel the force of his punches on his opponent and wince at every strike he endures. This emotional attachment gives the necessary weight to the story, but it also toys with the idea of how much Atom can actually feel.

The emotional factor with him is introduced when he saves the life of Max. At this point, he has not been plugged in and is just another junk in the yard. However, soon enough, Max turns him into a fighter due to his sheer will. He feels connected to the robot, which is largely because by that time his father is not responsive to the love he wants to feel and is still grieving the death of his mother. What’s interesting is that we find Atom reciprocating it, his actions explained as the result of the rare shadow function he’s been fitted with. He mimics the kid, which gives off the impression that he is doing just what his function calls for. But then, other smaller things faintly hint at something more.

The first instance of such behavior is when Max takes him out for a walk at night. He looks at Atom and says “your secret is safe with me”. This line is repeated at the end of the film where Charlie tries to tell him something, most probably that he loves him. Max cutting him off with “your secret is safe with me” might simply mean that he understands him and that he knows that his father loves him. We could apply the same theory where he says it to Atom. At this point, the kid doesn’t have any proper parent-figure in his life. His father has sold him to his aunt, whom he doesn’t feel very attached to. At this point, Atom is the only one who he can count on, the only one who he thinks loves him. But there is another explanation as well.

In some scenes of the movie, we find Atom behaving too humanly for a robot. His setting works differently and he seems to be more receptive to the things that are taught to him. At one point, we find him staring at himself in the mirror, and it almost looks like he is contemplating something. His overall look, which is more rugged and torn down rather than the shiny appearance of his counterparts, also gives him a human character that allows the audience to easily get attached to him, along with the way he seems to be responsive of Max’s cries to get up and fight. Another thing that piques our curiosity is how Farra Lemkova suddenly shows an interest in Atom. He is just another sparring robot that has only recently started winning some fights. The only thing that makes him fascinating is his rare shadow function. But is it really that rare or inimitable that the great Tak Mashido can’t get it for Zeus? Do they just buy every robot that seems to have potential, or are they aware of the things that the rare function brings with itself? Could it be that the shadow function that allows the robot to commit the boxing lessons to memory also lets him shadow other things, like emotions? Could this mean that Atom is one of the sentient ones? The film doesn’t give a yes to it, but with these little things spread across the movie, it also doesn’t give a specific no to us.

Read More: Will There be a Real Steel Sequel?

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Movie Review: ‘Real Steel’

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“Real Steel” is “Rocky” with robots that look like “Transformers,” managed by a “Raging Bull” washout in need of a “Cinderella Man” comeback that’s complicated by “The Champ” and “Paper Moon” sorts of parent-child issues, with a sweet bit of “Wall-E”-styled scrap metal who never pulls his punches. Perhaps “Reel Steal” would be the better title.

As it happens, this recycled reclamation of underdogs saga is neither as bad as it sounds nor quite as good as it could be, although the 9-year-old bruiser next to me pummeled the armrest, spilled his soda and screamed “awesome” through every one of the fight scenes. I took that for an endorsement, one I think the family film crowd not bothered by a little rough language will second.

The film stars Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo and Atom as, respectively, the-down-on-his-luck-former-boxer-turned-fighting-robot manager, the almost-given-up-on-romance-but-I-can-fix-any-broken-bot-you-drag-in-here beauty, the I-wish-I-had-a-better-dad-but-at-least-he’s-in-the-robot-game kid and the won’t-someone-just-believe-in-me blue-eyed boxing bot.

Out of that lineup the name to remember is Goyo’s. He’s a cheeky Canadian youngster with soulful eyes that move from mischief to sadness with a remarkable ease. Earlier this year, he nailed the fierce action opening of “Thor” as boy Thor. In the role of 11-year-old, newly motherless Max, he is the saving grace of “Real Steel,” helping not only to bring out the humanity in Atom — Max just knows the bot has the circuitry of a champion — but sparking a flicker of life in Jackman, who’s had a tough time getting his acting to outshine his muscle-flexing prowess and his model good looks (see the “X-Men” franchise for the first, celebrity fashion spreads for the rest).

Director Shawn Levy, of course, deserves some of the credit for what works (and blame for what doesn’t). As a filmmaker, Levy has specialized in comedy, typically bringing a certain polish and proficiency, but not the panache (“Date Night,” “Night at the Museum”). With “Real Steel,” he moves into the action game. Maybe metal should be his métier, because Levy, with Sugar Ray Leonard adding some punch to the boxing sequences, makes you actually care about the robots, or at least Atom.

Despite all the threads that seem plucked from other films, “Real Steel” was inspired by a 1963 “Twilight Zone” episode based a sci-fi short story by Richard Matheson. Writer John Gatins, who has a string of hard-knocks redemption stories to his credit, adapted it for the big screen and does a decent job of keeping the dialogue lean and mean, which helps because the plot’s so predictable.

The time frame has been slightly fast-forwarded to 2020 and from the looks of it the economy has only gotten worse, with veteran cinematographer Mauro Fiore (“Avatar”) capturing a down-market Americana that feels depressingly real. Meanwhile, mass entertainment has gone to extremes, replacing hard bodies with steel robots so that boxing can be even more brutal. Like video games, humans hold the controls, they just don’t have to feel the pain.

Charlie (Jackman) is a consistent loser on the circuit, carting around his bots — and pieces — in an 18-wheeler, making bad bets and usually running out rather than paying up. The one slip-up that surprises him is Max, the son he fathered and had forgotten.

The kid’s aunt (Hope Davis) wants custody; her rich beau (James Rebhorn) wants a kid-free trip to Europe, and Charlie wants to make a fast buck. So a backroom deal puts money in Charlie’s hands and Max in his care for the summer. The kid’s no pushover, he wants a piece of Charlie’s take, and after he discovers Atom in a garbage dump, this young bot boxing fanatic wants a shot at getting his guy into the game. And thus the journey toward enlightenment begins.

It’s a grungy world of double-dealing with villains of various stripes, the requisite fighting foes to root against with the two-headed Twin Cities, the weirdest; the high-tech monstrous Zeus, the best. The fights do go on and on, but they’re more exciting to watch than what Michael Bay’s managed with “Transformers.”

As Charlie, Jackman is mostly surface gloss — he knows how to work a greasy tee and a bad attitude, glaring and growling at everyone. He softens slightly with Lilly’s Bailey (so nice to see her bruised, buff beauty back since “Lost” wrapped). But it is with Goyo that Jackman warms up. Their father-son spats, truly some of the film’s best sparring, is what gives it heart. Not “Rocky” heart, or “Raging Bull” heart, mind you, but “Real” enough.

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Former Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey is an award-winning entertainment journalist and bestselling author. She left the newsroom in 2015. In addition to her critical essays and reviews of about 200 films a year for The Times, Sharkey’s weekly movie reviews appeared in newspapers nationally and internationally. Her books include collaborations with Oscar-winning actresses Faye Dunaway on “Looking for Gatsby” and Marlee Matlin on “I’ll Scream Later.” Sharkey holds a degree in journalism and a master’s in communications theory from Texas Christian University.

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Real steel: film review.

The hokey bot-boxing melodrama stars Hugh Jackman as a down-on-his-luck dad attempting to reconnect with his spunky long-lost son.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Hugh Jackman stars in the film, opening Oct. 7. Stacey Snider says the film is "a sizable bet for us."

Rocky the Robot would have been the most accurate title for this bot-boxing melodrama, which feels like a mashup of spare parts from Transformers , The Champ , Star Wars and Sylvester Stallone’s series, among other cash cows of various vintages. Attempting to tell a heartwarming tale of the redemption of a washed-up fighter in a sports world dominated by metal-crunching mechanical pugilists, this punishingly predictable tale will test whether sci-fi action fanboys can stomach having their cherished genre infiltrated by sentimental hokum about a down-on-his-luck dad and his spunky long-lost son. The likeliest box-office outlook is a split decision.

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PHOTOS: ‘Real Steel’ First Look: Hugh Jackman in DreamWorks’ Robot Boxing Film

The Bottom Line This story of a washed-up boxer's redemption through robot boxing is made of nothing but recycled parts.

Guided by a large and august creative team seemingly dedicated to making a film without a speck of originality, this DreamWorks production for Disney is based on the 1956 short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson , who seven years later adapted it for an episode of  The Twilight Zone . In it, Lee Marvin starred as a former boxer who, in a future world (1974) in which human boxing has been outlawed and replaced by android combatants, disguises himself as a robot to fight a mechanical opponent.

With Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks on board, the Transformers connection is felt heavily, even if the bots are neither so enormous nor numerous. In fact, the first ramshackle tin can of a fighter promoted by bottom-feeding hustler Charlie Kenton ( Hugh Jackman ) isn’t even strong enough to put up a fight against a live bull at a Western county fair in the film’s opening action sequence.

As close to the gutter as Mickey Rourke was at his ebb in The Wrestler , Charlie is crude, argumentative and dumb. He’s not even sensitive, willing to care temporarily for his 11-year-old son by an ex-girlfriend who has just died only in exchange for cash. Abusive toward the kid, Charlie lucks out in that the great-looking blond boy, Max ( Dakota Goyo ), is a whiz with machinery, just the guy to help bring a robot to fighting trim.

Greeting Max’s efforts at seeking love and approval with gruff rejection, Charlie scrapes up some low-end bouts, first with a bot that gets destroyed then with a makeshift old sparring robot named Atom that looks like it belongs on Tatooine. After a couple of amazing victories, the relatively slight machine with bright-red eyes acquires a following, and father and son eye a long-shot match against the undefeated Zeus, a towering black thing controlled by a filthy-rich Russian superfox ( Olga Fonda ) and a vain Japanese designer ( Karl Yune ).

It goes without saying that gruff Charlie eventually will succumb to his inner dad and embrace Max, but it’s a big problem that Charlie is genuinely unlikable. Impatient, defensive and rude, he’s thoroughly deficient in redeeming human qualities. Max is forced to tolerate him, but not for a moment is it credible that his comely former girlfriend Bailey ( Evangeline Lilly  of Lost  fame) would still hang around her late dad’s old Dallas gym, which she allows Charlie to use as a robot workshop, and welcome such a loser back into her life. Working hard to deliver the accent and externals of an American “street” character, Jackman doesn’t provide Charlie with a glimmer of heart until the very end. It’s easy to imagine, say, Mel Gibson of 15 years ago giving such a role just the right balance between jerk and hidden softie, but Jackman’s Charlie comes off as almost entirely abrasive, someone you’d go out of your way to avoid.

Taking up the slack to an extent is young Goyo, recently seen in Thor, who is natural and unaffected in front of the camera and instantly winning.

Despite the preprogrammed feel of John Gatins ‘ script ( Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven get story credit, despite the foundation provided by Matheson’s original), director Shawn Levy , in a change of pace from his usual comedies, makes sure the old Rocky underdog charge sets when the climactic bout gets under way. With the slim Atom looking like he has as much of a chance against Zeus as Pee-wee Herman would against the Rock, it’s hard not to engage with the momentum as it swings wildly from one extreme to the other. Charlie, enacting outside the ropes the moves he wants Atom to make, summons all of his boxing knowledge to achieve something through this mechanical proxy that he never quite pulled off in the ring. The ending has the right feel of resolution, but it’s still a question how much of a rooting interest audiences will take in robots trying to send one another to the junkyard.

Loaded with enough product placement to make Jerry Lewis proud, Real Steel is technically seamless.

Opens: Oct. 7 (Disney) Production: Touchstone, DreamWorks, 21 Laps, Montford/Murphy Prods. Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda Director: Shawn Levy Screenwriters: John Gatins, story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven, based in part on the short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson Producers: Don Murphy, Susan Montford, Shawn Levy Executive producers: Jack Rapke, Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Steven Spielberg, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen Director of photography: Mauro Fiore Production designer: Tom Meyer Costume designer: Marlene Stewart Editor: Dean Zimmerman Music: Danny Elfman PG-13 rating, 127 minutes  

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In a near future where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling ex-boxer feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. In a near future where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling ex-boxer feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. In a near future where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling ex-boxer feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot.

• John Gatins
• Jeremy Leven
• Hugh Jackman
• Evangeline Lilly
• Dakota Goyo
• 568 User reviews
• 340 Critic reviews
• 56 Metascore
• 2 wins & 6 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• Charlie Kenton

• Bailey Tallet

• Tak Mashido

• Farra Lemkova

• Little Sister
• Littlest Sister

• Bill Panner

• Large Texan Man
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• Trivia Each of the robots were built both in real life and CGI. For certain shots with animatronics, they were controlled by more than twenty puppeteers.
• Goofs Given that Hugh Jackman is left-handed, Atom is seen at times mirroring Charlie rather than mimicking him. In many scenes, especially in the fight between Atom and Zeus, Atom is clearly fighting right-handed while Charlie is shadow boxing left-handed. This is perhaps the reason why Atom is seen to be alternating between mimicking and mirroring even though according to how shadow boxing is explained in the film he should be only mimicking. This is also easily seen, though, when you notice the person running the shadow function either facing Atom or not. The shadow apparently mirrors when the operator is facing him and in mimic when not.

Max Kenton : The People's Champion? Sounds pretty good to me.

• Connections Featured in Trailer Failure: Conan, Real Steel, and Final Destination 5 (2011)
• Soundtracks All My Days Written and Performed by Alexi Murdoch Courtesy of Zero Summer Records By arrangement with Nettwerk Music Group

User reviews 568

• Sep 28, 2020
• Why did Farra (Zeus' owner) want to buy Atom, an old generation sparring robot?
• What is the first song in this movie?
• October 7, 2011 (United States)
• United States
• DreamWorks (Canada)
• Stream Real Steel officially on Disney+ Hotstar Indonesia
• Real Steel: The IMAX Experience
• Mason, Michigan, USA (Ingham County Courthouse)
• Dreamworks Pictures
• Touchstone Pictures
• Reliance Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $110,000,000 (estimated)
• $85,468,508
• $27,319,677
• Oct 9, 2011
• $299,268,508

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• Runtime 2 hours 7 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Review by Brian Eggert October 4, 2011

According to Real Steel , Dreamworks’ new sci-fi family film, over the next 8 years, the sport of boxing will fade away only to be replaced by high-tech robot death matches where remote-controlled automatons punch each other into scrap metal. If you’re thinking this sounds like “Rock’em Sock’em Robots: The Movie,” then you’d be right—although the film has no direct correlation to the toy, aside from obvious similarities in concept. We learn that a video game- and violence-obsessed culture demands more carnage, and only robots that tear each other limb from limb can provide it. Given that Comedy Central’s show BattleBots was canceled years ago due to waning interest, and that the current state of robotics is nowhere near the advances suggested here, the unlikely notion that, by 2020, such developments will come to fruition sours any prospective credibility.

Based “in part” on the 1956 short story Steel by Richard Matheson (author of stories that inspired I Am Legend  and The Box ), the script by John Gatins does little to improve its source (curiously, Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven receive story credit). Originally adapted into a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone starring Lee Marvin, Matheson’s story and the more concise show version had enough sense to explain that boxing was outlawed, making robot fights a necessary replacement. Instead, director Shawn Levy’s film, produced by names like Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, uses this setup to retread worn-down sports movie conventions in an entertaining, if nauseatingly familiar way. Herein are common underdog elements from Rocky and Over the Top , with the clanging metal bouts of 1990’s Robot Jox re-ornamented by the machines from Transformers for effect(s).

Hugh Jackman plays Charlie, a fast-talking hustler and former boxer who fights robots at county fairs and underground venues. After an opening scene involving an eyebrow-raising tussle between Charlie’s bot and a bull, Charlie discovers an estranged former lover has died and she has left their now 11-year-old son in his custody. Plucky, smart-mouthed kid Max (Dakota Goyo) is quickly signed over to the lover’s sister (Hope Davis), except for the coming summer months, during which Charlie has to begrudgingly babysit. Charlie wants nothing to do with the boy, his mind set on earning his fortune as a promoter and rekindling a flame with robo-gym owner Bailey (Evangeline Lilly) in a perfunctory love subplot. But Max proves to know much more about robots than his dad would expect. Scrounging for parts in a dump, Max unearths an abandoned sparring bot called Atom (pronounced “Adam” throughout), a machine not meant for title bouts but rather to coach the bigger guys.

Of course, being a kid, Max uses his fine-tuned knowledge of video games and robotics to engineer Atom with voice-recognition software and augments its already useful shadow-boxer feature. Using Charlie’s skill as a fighter to train the mindless bot, they take their find on the road and earn a name for themselves as unlikely winners. Charlie shows Max how to control his new toy with a fancy keypad, and before you know it, they’re in the big leagues against the current champion, Zeus, who’s backed by two ultra-rich, glaring-eyed villains: designer Tak (Karl Yune) and his bankroll Farra Lemcova (Olga Fonda). It all ends with a “David and Goliath” fight that gets the blood flowing, even if the fighters have motor oil running through their veins. Throughout, Charlie calls the boy “Kid,” and Max calls his dad “Charlie,” until the end when, as expected, they’re hugging and teary-eyed and finally call each other by their father-son titles.

Humans would seem to drive the story as they place their aspirations in the victory of their robots, but the action takes place in the ring as slick bot designs smash each other into bits during emotionless battles. Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence is the grown-up brother to this comparatively dim “family” effort (PG-13 violence and language may be too much for younger viewers), exploring several of the same themes with greater detail and artistry. For example, Real Steel ’s bouts recall the “Flesh Fairs” from A.I. , where hordes of screaming human fans drool as robots are ripped apart. Spielberg imbued his “mecha” with human qualities, however, bringing into question humanity’s jealousy toward the perfection of a robot lifeform. But Levy’s robots have no personalities for themselves, despite his (woefully ineffective) attempts to imply a human dimension with ponderous shots of Atom’s glowing, unresponsive eyes. Atom never moves unless told to do so by voice command or shadow-boxing mimicry, yet the characters say they know there’s something more, something self-aware under Atom’s metal exterior. We never see what that might be. One keeps hoping the story will bring another dimension to the robots, but no evidence is offered to contradict their presence as empty fighting machines.

A combination of top-notch CGI and animatronic designs by Jason Matthews bring the robots to physical life—there’s not a moment in which we’re not entirely convinced these bots are tangible, even if their complete lack of personality makes any hope for connecting to them impossible. Fortunately, the actors have more personality. Goyo (who appears in Thor as the young hero) steals the show, lending Max a spitfire persona that somehow offsets Charlie’s awfulness. Indeed, Charlie’s complete disregard for his responsibilities as a parent makes him a despicable character, even though he finally surrenders to his fatherly instincts and reforms. Jackman’s energetic performance and general amicability as a performer wash over the character’s abrasive qualities—he belittles Max and abandons him in a dangerous situation more than once—but just barely. Had another actor been cast, the role wouldn’t have worked, and audiences would find themselves struggling to care.

But why worry about things like character and story logic when flashy robot battles showcase your film? Much about Real Steel relies on surfaces, from the production’s admirable polish to mindless robot punch-outs designed to entice gamer crowds. And thanks to several arena settings, a wealth of product placement informs audiences that ESPN and Bing are still alive and well in 2020. Superficiality drives the production, which like Atom, is recycled from leftover parts into a glossy new entity; though, unlike Atom, this film does not do the unexpected, even for this admitted sucker for boxing movies. A resoundingly optimistic, syrupy finale adheres to the subgenre’s formula to the letter and promises an already-in-development sequel to progress (if box-office receipts turn a profit). Mainstream audiences will no doubt gather around its blatant commercialism, but few will see this as anything but a tired old cast re-pressed and coated with a shiny new layer of wax.

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Exploring and Analysing Sentimental Science-Fiction: Sociological Themes in Shawn Levy’s Real Steel

2016, Reyono Journal of Interdiciplinary Studies

A conspicuously potent genre of Cinema has been scientific fiction, popularly called "sci-fi movies. " Not all but many movies revolving around diverse ideas of scientific fiction have a possibility of being used to bring forth themes which are graver than they appear to be. Shawn Levy's Real Steel (2011) is set in a time where human boxers are obsolete and boxing primarily has become more of a violent entertainment than a sport, with the boxers having been replaced with robots. The paper seeks to investigate how the film treats the familiar formula of " Robot and Man " to toss up questions of social responsibility with reference to the predicament of living like an underdog and indulging in a constant negotiation of this identity politics, which is in turn affected by the glaring chasms between the different layers of social and economic standing. It also outlines the theme of blatant consumerism and the human psyche trying to keep itself float amidst it.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Predictable but fun fight movie has lots of robot action.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie has a lot to say about redemption and fo

Charlie won't win Father of the Year anytime s

Tons of scenes, some fairly intense, show robots b

One kiss and a few scantily clad women at a boxing

Language use (some of which is by the kid) include

Plenty of noticeable product placement from brands

An adult swigs beer in front of children; at one p

Parents need to know that this futuristic action drama with a heart is equal parts Rocky and RoboCop . There are tons of brutal (if gripping) scenes of robot combat, some of which gets pretty intense. And it's not just the robots who get into brawls; a beating leaves a key character bloodied. One…

Positive Messages

The movie has a lot to say about redemption and forgiveness between a father and his son. It also makes you think about how we cast aside older models (computers, cell phones, people) for flashier, newer varieties, often forgetting that there's value in what came before. It also suggests that people should be confident in their gifts and use them judiciously.

Positive Role Models

Charlie won't win Father of the Year anytime soon (at least not for most of the movie), but he does redeem himself. And Max is kind, forgiving, resilient, determined, and self-motivated; he's quite a kid.

Violence & Scariness

Tons of scenes, some fairly intense, show robots beating other robots up. While the robots are the primary pugilists here, the machines' bouts take place in front of audiences drunk with bloodlust, and there's one nasty human beatdown that happens in front of a child and leaves a main character bloodied and immobilized.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One kiss and a few scantily clad women at a boxing match.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language use (some of which is by the kid) includes "s--t," "ass," "damn," "crap," "bitch," "hell," "oh my God," and "suck."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Plenty of noticeable product placement from brands including Coca-Cola, ESPN, HP computers, Nokia, Capitol One, Cadillac, bing, Xbox, and Sprint.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

An adult swigs beer in front of children; at one point, he's drinking soon after waking up.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this futuristic action drama with a heart is equal parts Rocky and RoboCop . There are tons of brutal (if gripping) scenes of robot combat, some of which gets pretty intense. And it's not just the robots who get into brawls; a beating leaves a key character bloodied. One of the main characters (played by Hugh Jackman ) is pretty abhorrent when the movie begins; he's introduced as an irresponsible mess who can't be bothered to care for his own son. He drinks and swears in front of the boy (words include "s--t" and "damn") and even goes so far as to "sell" him (or at least his parental rights) -- though he does change over the course of the movie, which ultimately has a message about redemption and forgiveness. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (38)
• Kids say (82)

Based on 38 parent reviews

Really enjoyed the movie

What's the story.

It's 2024, and one-time boxer Charlie Kenton ( Hugh Jackman ) has no shame. He owes everyone money, and he abandoned his son, Max (Dakota Goyo), long ago. All he cares about is the next pay-off at the next match he arranges for the two-ton boxing robots that he pieces together from scrap parts. It's a life, if not a fulfilling one. But then his ex-girlfriend dies, leaving his son alone. His ex's sister ( Hope Davis ) desperately wants to adopt Max, so Charlie sees an opening: Why not make a deal with her husband for $100,000 for signing his parental rights over? But first Max must stay with Charlie until his aunt and uncle return from a European tour. Charlie hopes to leave his son with the daughter of his old coach ( Evangeline Lilly ), but Max isn't having any of it: He wants to join Charlie on the road. Before they know it, they're training what appears to be a genuine, previous-generation model championship fighter called Atom. But there's more than a bout at stake.

Is It Any Good?

REAL STEEL doesn't break new cinematic ground; it's an amalgam -- like the robots featured in it -- of many other movies (imagine Rocky meeting RoboCop ). Can the audience predict what comes next, considering that it borrows so much from every other fight film (with a little father-son drama thrown in for good measure)? Duh.

Yet REAL STEEL is surprisingly enjoyable -- as long as you dial down your expectations. Yes, it's shlocky, but Goyo and Jackman share a believable chemistry, and the young actor is just plain terrific. (Lilly doesn't have much to work with, though what she does reminds us how great she is.) It's hard to believe how carried away you can get cheering on a pair of robots in a ring. Expect it to happen, so our advice is to just go with it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Charlie and Max's relationship. How do they compare to other fathers and sons you've seen in the media? Are they relatable characters? Role models?

How do you feel about boxing, especially when it's all-out like the fights choreographed here? Does the violence have less impact since the robots are the ones primarily involved?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 7, 2011
• On DVD or streaming : January 24, 2012
• Cast : Dakota Goyo , Evangeline Lilly , Hugh Jackman
• Director : Shawn Levy
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Walt Disney Pictures
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 126 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some violence, intense action, and brief language
• Last updated : June 14, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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It Has Robots, But Is Real Steel Real Science Fiction?

Ask any two fans of science fiction and/or fantasy to define the line that separates the two genres, and it's pretty likely you'll get two notably different answers. There are those who argue that anything that has space ships, or ray guns, or robots, is automatically science fiction no matter how wildly fantastical the rest of the story is; and there are those who argue that the inclusion of "magical" elements is enough to push any story, no matter how otherwise technological it is, into the realm of fantasy. That's why the Star Wars movies have caused so much trouble: they've got the technology, of course, but then there's The Force -- which, let's face it, is basically magic -- and C-3PO and R2-D2, who both have more personality than Anakin. That's a meaty topic for a great geek argument, to be sure.

So when any movie with science fictional elements comes out, it's pretty inevitable that -- particularly given how very few really good science fiction movies are made -- geeks are going to want to know just where on the science fiction / fantasy spectrum it falls. You've likely seen the trailers for Real Steel , which opens tomorrow in the U.S., and of course it's clear that boxing robots are a huge part of the movie. But, you may have wondered, how realistic are they really? How fantastical is the movie's setting, and how plausible? In other words: is it really science fiction, or does it veer towards that indistinct genre border?

I'm pleased to be able to tell you, without fear of giving too much of the movie away, that it's pretty solid science fiction. It's set in the year 2020, so not very far in the future, and, well, you know how in lots of movies set in the near-future there are flying cars everywhere, or fully holographic movies, or other things that would take many years to become mainstream and are nowhere near even early adoption in reality? The filmmakers of Real Steel avoid all of that. In fact, the movie's 2020 looks a lot like the real 2011, with the exceptions of eight-foot tall sophisticated robots that can fight each other and mimic human movements in real time, and somewhat more sophisticated computers that, for reasons passing understanding, have translucent screens.

And the robots themselves? Yes, they're a good bit more sophisticated than what could be built today, particularly considering how much they would weigh. It's hard to say whether they're that outlandish for eight to nine years in the future, though, considering how quickly technology can evolve sometimes. It's certainly not a huge stretch to think that the sport of boxing would embrace robots, since they could be just as brutal to each other as desired, without anyone risking serious injury or death -- I mean, a robot could literally have its head ripped off and still return to fight again within days. There is a question that is touched on in the film about whether Atom, the robot that becomes a focal point of the story, is at least somewhat self-aware -- but the filmmakers very wisely leave it unanswered, letting the audience draw their own conclusions.

I should point out that Real Steel is in fact based on a short story, titled just "Steel," by the excellent science fiction author Richard Matheson . The story was previously adapted (with a screenplay by Matheson) as an episode of The Twilight Zone 48 years ago, starring Lee Marvin. In the original story and episode, though, the robot's owner ends up disguising himself as the robot in the climactic fight, which does not happen in the movie (and really couldn't, the way things are set up). And the whole father-and-son story , so crucial to Real Steel , is completely absent from the original material as well.

In summary: To this geek's mind, yes, it's good science fiction. It doesn't try to do too much, but settles for imagining a plausible near-future that's grounded in today's reality. It's not a perfect movie, of course, but it aims for doing more by doing less and, on that front at least, succeeds.

• Jun 19, 2021

5 Life Lessons That taught Me by The Movie "Real Steel"

We, people in this world aren't perfect. We make mistakes and having outburst emotions that we couldn't control instantly. Also we fail sometimes which we feel like stopping and not trying again. And to not repeat the mistakes we've done and to go on in life, there are 5 life lessons from Real Steel that will hit you hard and give you an unforgettable life lessons that may lead you to be a better person.

1. Stay focus because it's important.

From the Real Steel film directed by Shawn Levy, Charlie (Hugh Jackman) was skillfully controlling his robot to fight the bull that was already losing but his eyes went transfix to one of the woman in crowd that made him lose focus and so his robot lose in the fight.

Focus and concentration is really important because even if you are confident and very skillful in what you're doing, if you lose your focus, you'll struggle and ended up losing.

2. Losing is part of a competition. So never lose hope.

As Charlie met his son, Max they went to a robot boxing battle in Crash Palace with a new robot named Noisy Boy that fought with Midas. Charlie controls the robot and Midas receives hard punches. Yet at the end, Charlie and Max lose the fight that made Charlie decides to stop. But as they tried to find robot parts, Max found Atom and they tried to used him in a fight and they won.

Yes, failing or losing is part of a competition. But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't go on just because we failed. We need to believe in ourselves and do better next time to win.

3. Don't exchange happiness for money.

Max and Charlie was invited by Farra who is the funder of robot Zeus who offers a high amount of money to purchase Atom. Charlie got dazzled and was about to agreed when Max opposed him and walks out irritatedly. They argued and Max told him that he wants them to fight than to sold their precious robot, Atom. Charlie realized everything he have done when Max went back to his aunt Debra.

Truly that you can't get the happiness in exchange of money. It is a life lesson that people must realize because if not, instead of being happy, you will feel miserable for losing something precious and losing someone whose more important than the money.

4. Becoming a father is difficult but it's more difficult to be a father.

After Charlie talk and have misunderstanding with Max. Charlie realized the things he did that hurt Max. And as he went home, Kate made him realize that Max is his son and he should do what is right and best for him. So Charlie went to Max and admitted his mistakes and pleased him to come back.

Becoming a father is difficult but the responsibility isn't ending there. You should love your child and start being a real father because it's what a real man does, to be a better person for him and for his child.

5. Passion can drive you to achieve what you want in life.

At the end of the story, Charlie and his son Max with their robot named Atom went to a Robot Boxing fight with the Mighty Zeus. Atom was knockdown at first by Zeus yet he stood to not end the fight. As round 4 came, Max pleased Charlie to use his passion in boxing in order for robot Atom to use shadow fight mode to fight Zeus. Charlie accept and faced atom to see his boxing moves and they won the fight that made the whole crowd appreciate Charlie's passion that leads him with his son to have a better life.

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"Real Steel" is an example of one of those movies that has nothing great going for it.

Everything about the movie is at best, mediocre. I found myself just plain unpleased with the whole ordeal. Everything from the pacing, acting, special effects, side-stories, plot, and even the whole concept was terrible! The more you watch, the more it dawns on you how unbelievable robot "boxing" (why just boxing, wtf?) would be, and is. The universe has so many plotholes it was quite disconcerting. The fight scenes were botched and didn't make any sense, the characters made irrational decisions constantly, and what the fuck was that romance subplot?

The Twilight Zone Episode That Inspired One Of Hugh Jackman's Best Films

When the big-budget sci-fi/boxing flick hybrid "Real Steel" brawled its way into theaters on October 7, 2011, it was ridiculed by some as "Rock'em Sock'em Robots: The Motion Picture." On one hand, the $110 million-budgeted film's blockbuster pedigree of star Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Levy (and, perhaps most crucially, the marketing) did little to suggest the film was anything more than this. But anyone who grew up gorging on Rod Serling's original run of "The Twilight Zone" in syndication or reading the novels and short stories of Richard Matheson knew there was more to "Real Steel," at least in theory, than family friendly mechanical mayhem.

Obviously, with that budget, Disney (which distributed the DreamWorks production) wasn't going to sell the film primarily on its connection to a nearly 50-year-old black-and-white television show. As for Matheson, while he's considered a god of 20th century sci-fi/fantasy/horror literature by publishing heavyweights like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, "From the creator of 'I Am Legend' and 'Somewhere in Time'" wasn't going to pack 'em in.

And then there was the "Twilight Zone" episode itself. "Steel," the second episode of the series' fifth and final season, is considered by most fans a middle-of-the-pack effort. Though it's nowhere near as eerie or downright frightening as many of the show's most celebrated tales, "Steel" is built around a nifty twist, one that's become sadly more relevant in our increasingly dehumanized age. And while this twist serves as the narrative hook of "Real Steel," Levy's "Rocky"-fied rendition runs counter to Matheson's cautionary original.

Steel is about a boxer past his prime and out of time

Richard Matheson wrote 16 episodes of "The Twilight Zone," many of which ( including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "The Invaders," and "Little Girl Lost) are considered stone cold classics. Like many of his contemporaries, Matheson infused his genre writing with the day's roiling societal issues; he could be brutally skeptical, sharply satirical, or, in the case of "Steel," a touch sentimental.

Matheson adapted his short story for the "Twilight Zone" episode and made very few changes. It tells the tragic tale of Tim "Steel" Kelly (Lee Marvin), an ex-boxer who, six years after the abolition of the sport, manages a robot pugilist along with his mechanic partner Pole (Joe Mantell). Their combatant, Maxo, is an outmoded model that's falling apart after sustaining excess abuse at the hands of devastatingly superior opponents. Kelly is equal parts dreamer and schemer; he believes the scrap-heap-bound Maxo is one good repair away from legging out a few more fights.

Tim Kelly was a flesh-punching man

To properly mend Maxo, however, Kelly and Pole need their fighter to make a semi-respectable showing in a bout against a new model backed by a no-nonsense promoter. When Maxo breaks beyond immediate repair in the locker room, a desperate Kelly disguises himself as a robot and, ignoring Pole's pleas, boxes in his machine's stead. Kelly, who earned his nickname because he was never knocked down during his professional career, gives his nuts-and-bolts opponent all he's got, but he can't phase the machine. Ultimately, he takes a hellacious beating and gets floored before the end of the first round.

The badly injured Kelly instructs Pole to get their share of the purse, but the promoter, citing the first-round knockout, only coughs up half of the money. As Kelly lies bruised and broken, probably dying, Serling delivers a defiant epilogue wherein he views the hero's suicide run as a John-Henry-versus-the-steam-engine moral victory. Per the "Twilight Zone" creator:

"[Humankind's] potential for tenacity and optimism continues, as always, to outfight, outpoint and outlive any and all changes made by his society, for which three cheers and a unanimous decision rendered from the Twilight Zone."

"Real Steel" this is not.

Richard Matheson meets Rocky

Even though he was working from a screenplay by respected A-listers Dan Gilroy ("Nightcrawler") and Jeremy Leven ("The Notebook"), Levy's "Real Steel" looked like a CG-laden, family-skewing programmer à la his "Night at the Museum" blockbusters; ergo, for admirers of Matheson and fans of "The Twilight Zone," it looked eminently skippable. But while the shape of the narrative is more of a "Paper Moon"/"The Champ" mash-up, the heart of Matheson's story is nestled within the studio-pleasing machinery.

Jackman's Charlie Kenton is, like Marvin's Kelly, an ex-boxer working the fringes of the robot-fighting circuit with substandard combatants. But since this is a four-quadrant flick, Charlie must have considerably more skin in the game, namely his son Max (Dakota Goyo), whose mother has only just died and whom he hasn't seen since birth. When they discover a scrapped robot named Atom with a built-in "shadow function," which allows Charlie to imbue it with his boxing smarts, they unwittingly find themselves managing a formidable underdog.

Thanks to off-the-charts chemistry between Jackman and Evangeline Lily, top-tier visual f/x and a rousing sports-film story arc told with unabashed conviction, "Real Steel" is a smashingly entertaining winner (it remains the only good movie Levy has directed). I've no idea why it wasn't a hit theatrically (a $300 million worldwide gross on a $110 million budget is sub-optimal), but it's since caught on via streaming. I gladly recommend it to parents looking for something they can watch with their kids without wincing, and would happily sit through another viewing right now. It's wildly re-watchable.

Alas, its rejiggering of Matheson's central conceit hasn't aged well. In fact, "Real Steel" now plays a bit like a betrayal of its source material.

Real Steel plays problematic in the age of AI proliferation

Kelly is not a noble working man like John Henry. He accepted the prohibition on his sport (enacted due to its barbarity, something that seemed possible in the early 1960s but unthinkable today given that bare-knuckle boxing is making a comeback ), and violently bullies Pole into sticking with their futile management of Maxo. When he opts to step in the ring himself, we see it as an act of tragic desperation. It's only afterward that his damn-the-torpedoes sacrifice takes on a virtuous quality.

In "Real Steel," Kelly's redeems himself in part by pouring every ounce of his boxing know-how into Atom's CPU. In turn, Atom becomes a wiser, more lethal and simply more capable fighter than Charlie ever was. Nowadays, the notion of a human being teaching a machine to replace him (even though that replacement has already happened in this case) isn't quite so uplifting. While this wasn't on many people's minds back then, there's connective tissue between Charlie's actions and programmers uploading the works of great writers to ChatGPT and so on.

Most great sci-fi writers are both fascinated and terrified by science. They're as knocked out by each new technological advancement as we are, but they immediately think ahead to its misapplication. And when it comes to automatization, they see a dystopia overrun by irrelevant, unemployable wretches.

Regardless of his animating motive, Kelly fights to what is likely his last breath to resist the dehumanization of industry, sport, and life in general. Meanwhile, Charlie and Max learn to love the machine. One day, sooner than they think, they'll regret their complicity.

How Improv Comedy Can Help Resolve Conflicts

I live in rural Maine where I co-founded an organization working with teachers around the globe to advance humane education, a field that prepares people to create a more just and peaceful future. Transforming schools, curricula, and strategies for positive change is no easy task these days. But I discovered a new powerful approach: improv comedy. 

I’m far from the comedy hubs of New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but we have an incredibly talented Second City-trained couple who’ve brought improv to our community both as performers and teachers. I began taking classes from them years ago and came to realize the lessons I was learning could do more than make people laugh; they could help build a better world.

The more I practiced, the more I witnessed improv’s power to cultivate a solutions-focused mindset and diminish the polarization that stymies positive change. The key lay in four core rules: building relationships, embracing “yes, and”,  bringing the love, and helping others shine.

Building relationships

The reason “building relationships” is the first rule of improv comedy is because without establishing a relationship, the actors struggle to care about each other, express relatable emotions, and move the scene forward. If the actors don’t care, neither will the audience. Improvisors must establish a relationship even when they don’t naturally relate to or like what their scene partner is doing or saying. To effectively address real-life problems, we also need to build relationships with those we don’t relate to or who do and say things we don’t like.

Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, I was speaking at a conference and one of the other keynoters, a well-known Harvard professor, said he didn’t know anyone who voted for Trump. Was he subtly suggesting that Trump supporters were not worth knowing? Unlike him, I knew plenty of people who’d voted for Trump, and I welcomed the opportunity to understand their perspectives, which were different from my own. Our conversations helped us expand our perspectives, think in more nuanced ways, and identify solutions to problems we could both agree on.

It’s understandable that we often choose to avoid “them”—whoever we define “them” to be. Having dedicated my life to advancing women’s rights, animal protection, environmental sustainability, and social justice, it takes ongoing commitment to the value of building relationships across divides for me to seek out friendships with people who fight against a woman’s right to have an abortion, kill animals recreationally, oppose sensible environmental regulations, or say things I consider bigoted. But I know that unless I build such relationships, I’m more likely to stereotype and possibly even vilify others who have different beliefs, as well as miss opportunities to cooperatively develop solutions to problems. The more I build these relationships, the more successful I am at understanding divergent perspectives and even shifting others’ thinking.

Embracing “yes and”

The second improv rule is “yes, and,” which refers to the practice of embracing whatever premise a scene partner suggests (“yes”) and adding to the prompts they offer (“and”). Imagine an improv actor starting a scene with “Mom, I’ve entered us into the parent-child acrobatic competition at school,” and “Mom” responding, “Great Brian! We can wear the pink polka dot tights I got on eBay!” The scene is moving forward not only because a relationship was established but also because of “yes, and.”

In improv comedy, “yes, and” primes us to listen carefully and welcome others’ suggestions so we can collaborate on creating a great scene. Just imagine what would have happened in the scene above had the actor identified as “Mom” responded, “I’m not your mother, and I don’t do acrobatics.” The scene would have crashed, and the first actor would have had nowhere to go from there.

Read More: You Should Say ‘Yes’ to Every New Opportunity

In our everyday lives, “yes, and” is a mindset that asks us to look for points of agreement and then add our own ideas. Embracing “yes, and” can be quite challenging, especially around highly charged issues. Nonetheless, we can usually find some area of agreement. For example, both pro-choice and pro-life advocates generally want as few girls and women as possible to face an unwanted pregnancy. And no one wants mass shootings to persist. If we can begin with even a thread of agreement about a problem, that common ground opens the possibility for respectfully sharing ideas and paves the way for potential collaboration.

Bringing the love

Rule three, “bringing the love,” is foundational to improv comedy because conflicts on stage aren’t usually funny (unless you’re Larry David). In real life, bringing the love often requires significant effort. It’s often much easier to focus on negatives. Who expresses love for the people driving respectfully alongside us on the highway? As soon as we’re cut off in traffic, however, we may lay on the horn and practically lose our minds with fury. Extend this tendency toward society at large, and a cesspool of vitriol often spews from our psychic underworld through the comfort of our keyboards or the power of a mob. Meanwhile, solutions to problems become ever more elusive as we burn potential bridges and fuel our outrage.

In improv comedy, the actors have an advantage: they’re actively endeavoring to bring the love. In real life, we’re frequently faced with others doing anything but, which makes bringing the love that much harder. Yet when we successfully meet hostility with love—to the degree that this is possible and makes sense—it’s not uncommon to watch that love melt another’s anger. When this happens, even solving our most intractable problems seems possible.

Helping others shine

Finally, improvisers strive to “help others shine.” They know that as their fellow actors shine, so shines the scene. As in improv comedy, so in life. Adopting this rule offers us a way to dial down our desire for the spotlight in favor of a bigger goal. As more of us seek out, learn from, and share whatever is worthy of light—and amplify the voices of those doing good work that’s flying under the radar—building humane and sustainable societies may even become likely.

I didn’t expect that improv would be key to effectively addressing the real-world problems I cared about—or that its four core rules would guide so much of my life’s work. Just as developing good improv skills requires practice, it takes practice to apply these rules in real life.

Establishing such a practice isn’t easy. It requires a commitment to listening, staying present, and remaining open. But the more we practice, the greater the rewards: more meaningful relationships, increased curiosity and creativity, and successful collaboration to uncover and implement solutions to the thorny problems we face.

Adapted from The Solutionary Way: Transform Your Life, Your Community, and The World For the Better . by Zoe Weil, published by New Society Publishers. Copyright © 2024 by Zoe Weil. Reprinted courtesy of New Society Publishers.

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• News for United States Steel

The Analyst Verdict: United States Steel In The Eyes Of 4 Experts

In the preceding three months, 4 analysts have released ratings for United States Steel (NYSE:X), presenting a wide array of perspectives from bullish to bearish.

The table below provides a snapshot of their recent ratings, showcasing how sentiments have evolved over the past 30 days and comparing them to the preceding months.

Analysts have set 12-month price targets for United States Steel, revealing an average target of $45.25, a high estimate of $48.00, and a low estimate of $43.00. Experiencing a 3.72% decline, the current average is now lower than the previous average price target of $47.00.

Interpreting Analyst Ratings: A Closer Look

A clear picture of United States Steel's perception among financial experts is painted with a thorough analysis of recent analyst actions. The summary below outlines key analysts, their recent evaluations, and adjustments to ratings and price targets.

Key Insights:

• Action Taken: Responding to changing market dynamics and company performance, analysts update their recommendations. Whether they 'Maintain', 'Raise', or 'Lower' their stance, it signifies their response to recent developments related to United States Steel. This offers insight into analysts' perspectives on the current state of the company.
• Rating: Gaining insights, analysts provide qualitative assessments, ranging from 'Outperform' to 'Underperform'. These ratings reflect expectations for the relative performance of United States Steel compared to the broader market.
• Price Targets: Analysts navigate through adjustments in price targets, providing estimates for United States Steel's future value. Comparing current and prior targets offers insights into analysts' evolving expectations.

Navigating through these analyst evaluations alongside other financial indicators can contribute to a holistic understanding of United States Steel's market standing. Stay informed and make data-driven decisions with our Ratings Table.

Stay up to date on United States Steel analyst ratings.

Discovering United States Steel: A Closer Look

United States Steel Corp operates primarily in the United States but also has a steelmaking capacity in Slovakia. The company's operating segments include North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-Rolled segment includes U. S. Steel's integrated steel plants and equity investees in North America involved in the production of slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as all iron ore and coke production facilities in the United States. It primarily serves North American customers in the service center, conversion, transportation, construction, container, and appliance, and electrical markets.

United States Steel's Economic Impact: An Analysis

Market Capitalization: Indicating a reduced size compared to industry averages, the company's market capitalization poses unique challenges.

Revenue Challenges: United States Steel's revenue growth over 3 months faced difficulties. As of 31 March, 2024, the company experienced a decline of approximately -6.94% . This indicates a decrease in top-line earnings. When compared to others in the Materials sector, the company faces challenges, achieving a growth rate lower than the average among peers.

Net Margin: United States Steel's net margin falls below industry averages, indicating challenges in achieving strong profitability. With a net margin of 4.11%, the company may face hurdles in effective cost management.

Return on Equity (ROE): United States Steel's ROE lags behind industry averages, suggesting challenges in maximizing returns on equity capital. With an ROE of 1.54%, the company may face hurdles in achieving optimal financial performance.

Return on Assets (ROA): United States Steel's ROA is below industry averages, indicating potential challenges in efficiently utilizing assets. With an ROA of 0.84%, the company may face hurdles in achieving optimal financial returns.

Debt Management: United States Steel's debt-to-equity ratio is below the industry average. With a ratio of 0.39 , the company relies less on debt financing, maintaining a healthier balance between debt and equity, which can be viewed positively by investors.

Analyst Ratings: What Are They?

Ratings come from analysts, or specialists within banking and financial systems that report for specific stocks or defined sectors (typically once per quarter for each stock). Analysts usually derive their information from company conference calls and meetings, financial statements, and conversations with important insiders to reach their decisions.

In addition to their assessments, some analysts extend their insights by offering predictions for key metrics such as earnings, revenue, and growth estimates. This supplementary information provides further guidance for traders. It is crucial to recognize that, despite their specialization, analysts are human and can only provide forecasts based on their beliefs.

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

United States Steel News MORE

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Why Use Steel in Construction

Construction is part of human progress, and technology and hard work are used to erect structures for various purposes. The designs are endless, with hardworking men and women implementing their training and skills to build residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. In addition, they make all the infrastructure around them.

Steel always has a solution, regardless of design or specific project challenges. The choice is simple, so steel is the best solution for everyone involved if you are considering building.

Steel is one of the most popular building materials. Why use steel in construction?

Steel Is a Strong Material

Steel is the most durable and toughest material to build with. It withstands corrosion and harsh weather conditions while maintaining its structural integrity and strong chemical makeup. Because of its strength, endurance and malleability, steel is easily fabricated and shaped in any orientation. This allows engineers and designers to create stunning components that offer form and function.

Unlike lumber, which is typically shipped to construction sites and then cut and formed to build a structure, steel is brought to sites already shaped and ready to be put together like a complicated erector set. Because of its flexibility and strength, steel is also earthquake-resistant. The beam and column connections support gravitational loads.

More Open Spaces

Steel buildings have a huge advantage over other building types. Because of their strength, fewer columns are needed. This allows space for large-scale, open-concept structures like showrooms, factories, and other building applications. Steel buildings are built with columns and beams, then steel siding and roofing, creating an entire steel envelope.

Steel is very adaptable to design and easily works with mezzanines to create elevated offices. This allows management to oversee the shop floor and use raised storage solutions. Steel also works well when expanding a building, as you can quickly add more square footage while still keeping the open design intact.

Steel Is Environmentally Friendly

It is hard to find a more environmentally friendly building material than steel. It is 100% recyclable, enabling you to create the same material of the same quality repeatedly with its closed loop. It is much lighter than concrete structures, reducing overall environmental stress, and is cheaper to transport and move around on the job site.

Steel’s energy efficiency is unparalleled. It radiates heat to create a relaxed inner environment. In colder weather, it helps to insulate and keep heat indoors. This all translates into less air conditioning use and less dependence on the power grid.

Flexibility

As we discussed above, steel is very flexible. Since it can be fabricated in almost any shape, it is a safe and reliable material to work with, even for the most ambitious architects. Along with the long spans come unique curves that give it its moniker as the ideal material for structural design.

Construction Time

Steel components are fabricated off-site and shipped sequentially when needed so they don’t take up valuable space on job sites. When they arrive, they can be immediately craned into position, bolted, and welded to become one rigid structure. This predictable schedule cuts down on manpower and shaves off a project’s total cycle time. The end result is faster occupancy times and decreased financial costs.

Contractors need reliable materials to meet their schedules. That’s why more architects turn to steel to bring their design ideas to life. Steel also addresses construction safety concerns. Because it is fabricated off-site and requires less manpower to erect, fewer workers are on site.

This translates into a safer environment. Prefabrication also includes dedicated lifting points for each assembly, reducing accidents.

Different Steel Solutions

Steel is highly versatile and fits into many construction applications and sectors. Cold-formed steel framing is a light framing material often used for steel studs and tracks. Steel joists are lighter than wood-framed ones but use the same open web design.

Steel decks are cold-rolled steel sheets used for roofs and floors in various projects. Structural steel framing includes structural beams and columns with vertical and horizontal elements.

Metal roofs and wall systems finish buildings. They come in various profiles and colours to enhance security, durability, and aesthetic appeal.

Rethinking The Future (RTF) is a Global Platform for Architecture and Design. RTF through more than 100 countries around the world provides an interactive platform of highest standard acknowledging the projects among creative and influential industry professionals.

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Parametric study on the buckling of unbraced steel frames under fire situation.

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Silva, T.; Couto, C.; Vila Real, P.; Lopes, N. Parametric Study on the Buckling of Unbraced Steel Frames under Fire Situation. Appl. Sci. 2024 , 14 , 5709. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135709

Silva T, Couto C, Vila Real P, Lopes N. Parametric Study on the Buckling of Unbraced Steel Frames under Fire Situation. Applied Sciences . 2024; 14(13):5709. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135709

Silva, Thiago, Carlos Couto, Paulo Vila Real, and Nuno Lopes. 2024. "Parametric Study on the Buckling of Unbraced Steel Frames under Fire Situation" Applied Sciences 14, no. 13: 5709. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135709

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Guest Essay

Bill Maher: Why I Want an Open Convention

By Bill Maher

Mr. Maher is the host of “Real Time” and the author of “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You.”

Over the past few years, many people have told me I should stop making Biden-is-old jokes because “it just helps Trump” — as if voters wouldn’t have noticed his age otherwise. I can’t ignore the obvious; none of us can. And I’m not going to mindlessly echo mendacious talking points like, “He has a cold.” If he had a cold, why was he out campaigning the next morning instead of putting his 81-year-old body to bed?

As Joe Biden himself would say, “Here’s the deal”: What happened at the debate last week wasn’t a tragedy; it was a blessing in disguise. I called on Mr. Biden to step aside almost a year ago, warning that he would be forever known as “Ruth Bader Biden” if he didn’t. Since then, each time I would bring up that idea, publicly or privately, people would dismiss it out of hand: Get on board, they’d say. The Democrats will never replace him. It’s off the table.

Well, now it’s on the table, where it always should have been. And far from being some kind of disaster for the Democratic Party, it plays right into what works best in 21st-century American culture. Americans like new .

When Barack Obama announced he was running for president in 2007, many said he hadn’t been around long enough, not realizing that his youth and inexperience were some of the best things he had going for him. He was new, and we weren’t tired of him. And he didn’t have an endlessly long record to pick over.

If our presidential politics were a TV show, it would be a series past its prime in desperate need of new characters. The term “jumping the shark” derives from an infamous episode of “Happy Days,” when the Fonz literally jumped over a shark while water-skiing in his leather jacket. The show had been on so long, and the story lines had grown so tired that the producers found themselves stretching the limits of reality to drum up interest.

Donald Trump talks about sharks a lot. I see this as an omen. Democrats can no longer afford to suspend disbelief.

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