Finch is a combination of drama and science fiction set in a post-apocalyptic world with Tom Hanks in the lead role. People from Universal Pictures bought the script and announced the film as a BIOS back in October 2017 with the intention of showing it in cinemas, but after several delays due to the corona pandemic, they gave up and sold the rights to the streaming service Apple TV +. The film was renamed Finch and premiered on November 5th.
Hanks plays Finch, a robotics engineer and one of the few people still alive after a cataclysmic solar event that left the world in desolation. In the underground bunker, he built his own world in which he is accompanied by the dog Goodyear and a robot resembling the dog Dewey who helps him in the outside world. Since his body has been suffering from the effects of radiation for a long time and his health is obviously damaged, he is making a robot that will take care of the dog when he is no more. As the newly formed team embarks on a dangerous journey to San Francisco, Finch tries to show Jeff the joy of life, his challenges and dangers with his creation.
Finch spends his days looking for everything that could be left of food and supplies in abandoned St. Louis, and his knowledge of computer programming has allowed him to help himself in these endeavors so as not to expose the dog to dangerous radiation. The mystery around him and his past is gradually revealed to us in the form of melancholic expositions, and it is clear that this is a good-natured, lonely man whose life has become a series of constant routines in the tactics of survival. Maybe his life and habits have changed, but his personality probably hasn’t.
His health is impaired by exposure to ultraviolet radiation and he worries that he will have no one to take care of the dog when he is not there. Everything Finch does meets with our understanding and compassion, primarily because it is interpreted by Tom Hanks, who captivates with the screen and assures us with small details that his character is a real person. For example, the actor occasionally uses a hoarse voice, as if trying to find it again after a long time of non-use, and in the scenes when he wears a helmet, look in his eyes are quite enough to present to us the amount of danger that Finch faces.
As for the dog, he is not so cute as to distract us from the sincerity of the story nor is the script using him for some unnecessary emotionality. He is there to introduce a third character to the story in the form of an intelligent robot whose presence is made possible by really great visual effects. Jeff is an extremely nice figure, primarily because of the gestures, posture and impatient fidgeting of an excited and curious child. The robot wants to impress its creator by learning things that are not loaded into his brain, and he wants to take care of the dog in accordance with his abilities, since the dog is afraid of this machine.
The story itself is quite simple, realized as a road trip to the west coast. Although set in a dangerous environment, the film is mostly light and without much excitement, sharply focused on Finch and his life. We get a story with life lessons that will leave us hope during the check-out rush, although everything suggested that the final outcome will not be very nice and positive. The film is generally at a slower pace and without any deeper explanations, but for such a light film intended for relaxation after a hard day’s work, it provides more than necessary.
Finch is a watchable and touching post-apocalyptic drama that does not grapple with ethical issues and scientific explanations but provides us with an easy, simple adventure with a sympathetic tandem in the form of Tom Hanks and a likable robot.
Finch movie cast and characters
- Tom Hanks as Finch Weinberg
- Caleb Landry Jones as Jeff
- Seamus as Goodyear
- Marie Wagenman as a Daughter
- Lora Cunningham as a Mother
- Oscar Avila as a Truck Driver
- Emily Jones as the voice of Finch’s Warning System
Final grade: 7/10
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