A mushy 'Klara and The Sun'

A few minutes into Klara and the Sun, director Taika Waititi’s schmaltzy adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s popular novel, it struck me that Waititi might be aiming for an idiosyncratic classic about the relationship between a friendly robot and a teenage girl. Set in the near future, Waititi's instructional fable focuses on Klara (Jenna Ortega), a slightly dated android who longs to be adopted lest she be cannibalized for spare parts. Klara languishes in The Friend Store, where she and her cohorts are ignored by a public that's more attracted to later models. Because her inventory is dated, The Friend Store manager (Natasha Lyonne) constantly finds herself bested by a spiffy store across the street, a comment on the rapid obsolescence generated by evolving technologies. All is not lost, though. One day, the teenage Josie (Mia Tharia) looks into the store window and makes a strong connection with Klara. She begs her reluctant mother (Amy Adams) to buy this artificial soul mate. Mom would…