Tom Hanks is no stranger to the one-man-show movie. He's the only one on screen for most of Castaway and he does it again with Finch (sort of), a post-apocalyptic story of an isolated man trying to survive a harsh climate who builds a robot for the sole purpose of that robot taking care of his dog after he dies. It is the sort of film that likely could have gone far into the schmaltzy side of things easily but Hanks with his gravitas and charm saves it so it ends up being quite a lovely tale if rather bland.
Hanks isn't entirely alone. Caleb Landry Jones, with his own unique brand of quirkiness, plays Jeff, the robot through motion capture and voice over. He stumbles over some of the regular problems of playing a robot in terms of balancing just how much personality and emotion a machine should have. But his chemistry with the on screen Hanks is strong so he makes it work.
And then there is the dog who is as cute as can be and makes you want to believe a man would go to all this trouble to ensure his future safety. The film therefore is about just how far we go for love, what relationships mean to us, and just how much our connections drive our purpose in the world. Director Sapochnik does a good job of building tension and emotion during the thin plot he has here so the film doesn't tire during its runtime. All in all this is the sort of film that one might not be motivated to see on a big screen but given the chance to check it out in the comfort of ones own home (on a bigger TV if possible as visually the film comes together quite nicely) it would be worth experiencing.
Finch
Starring: Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Writers: Craig Luck, Ivor Powell
No comments:
Post a Comment