Able Edwards(2004)

“A 21st century Citizen Kane”

In the future, Earth is decimated by an unnamed cataclysmic event that kills 90% of the world’s population and poisons the Earth’s air, leaving the planet uninhabitable.  The survivors live on satellites that orbit the Earth.  These survivors include several corporations, including the Edwards Corporation, the leading manufacturer and retailer of androids.

The story begins inside an office, where we see Abel Edwards (Scott Kelly Galbreath) collapse and die.  The next scene is in a courtroom, where Edwards’ widow is fighting his company for his assets.  The entire movie is told in flashbacks, while the widow and the company explain to the judges what has happened.

Abel (Able) Edwards was an entertainment tycoon in the early to mid-20th Century (think Walt Disney).  His cartoon characters are known throughout the world, and his theme parks are extremely popular.  He eventually creates the Edwards Corporation.  After his death, the company continued, eventually moving away from entertainment and into androids, especially after the cataclysm.  The company’s growth stagnated, and the CEO, Chairman Lowery (Michael Shamus Wiles) makes the incredible decision to clone the original Abel Edwards, and groom him to eventually take over the company.  Astronauts travel to Earth, go to Edwards’ cryogenically frozen body, and take a DNA sample that will be used to create the clone.  The clone, as a child, will be raised by Lowery and his family.

On his 25th birthday, Edwards takes over as CEO, and decides to move the company back towards entertainment.  Anyone who is against this is immediately fired.  Edwards wants to turn one of the android factories into a replica of the original Edwards Wonderland back on Earth (think Disneyland).  Nobody on the Board of Directors thinks this will succeed, but they keep their mouth shut so they can keep their jobs.  During construction, Edwards falls in love with and marries Rosemary (Keri Bruno), one of the park’s designers, and they eventually have a son.  Two years later, the park is completed and opened.  It is an immediate success.

As time goes on, 5 more Edwards Wonderland parks open, and Abel Edwards and the Edwards Corporation are raking in the money.  However, things are not going well in the Edwards household.  Abel is at odds with himself because he is a clone and not his own man.  His whole life has been a copy of the original Edwards.  Edwards decides to change things by running for the Senate, even though Rosemary is against this.  One day, Abel is giving a campaign speech at the first Edwards Wonderland, which is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary.  His son, bored of hearing yet another speech, goes to ride the rides.  Suddenly, one of the rides malfunctions and explodes, exposing the park to outer space.  This decimates the park and kills nearly everyone there.  Abel and Rosemary survive, but their son was killed.

This begins the backlash against Abel and the Edwards Corporation.  Within a short time, Abel loses the election, the remaining parks are closed (nobody will go to them anymore), Rosemary wants a divorce, and the company forces out Abel.  With nothing left to live for, Abel takes an Edwards Corporation spaceship and travels to Earth.  He walks to the remains of the original Edwards Wonderland while getting exposed to the poisoned Earth air.  He eventually goes to the office of the original Abel Edwards, which was turned into a museum after his death.  This is the only place left where he feels he belongs.  He then collapses and dies, in a repeat of the opening scene of the movie.

After hearing all of the testimony, the court rules in favor of the Edwards Corporation.  Because he is a clone and not his own man, Abel Edwards is property of the company, and Rosemary will not receive any of Abel’s assets.