Finch
Trip to nowhere
When I read the synopsis of “Finch” (USA/UK, 2021) I thought it would only be another post-apocalyptic film starring Tom Hanks. After watching it, I see that the synopsis was correct, but there is much more. In addition to Hanks’ brilliant interpretation, which escapes from the stereotype of himself, we have a reissue of “Cast Away” (USA, 2000) revised and updated.
Finch (Tom Hanks) is a survivor in a world ravaged by a huge solar eruption. Saved from the cataclysm due to being in an underground environment, Finch needs to confront very high temperatures, sandstorms, lack of water and supplies, and the darkest danger, the other survivors.
For his forays into searching for food and other goods he relies only on the company of the robot Dewey – basically a wheelbarrow with an extendable arm and rudimentary artificial intelligence.
But in his refuge at an old wind power outtake station, Finch relies on the company of the dog Goodyear, while works frantically on developing a more sophisticated AI. At the same time, he works on hardware, building a humanoid body for his new automaton.
Finch is in a hurry, and barely puts the new robot into operation, gathers his entire troupe into a motorhome and begins a journey that only he knows the destination. As they roam ghost towns and desolate fields, Finch works on developing the personality of the new robot, whom he names Jeff.
Jeff’s learning process (voiced by Caleb Landry Jones) is long and tortuous. Although it has a large encyclopedic information stored in its memory banks, the new robot looks like a rebellious and willful teenager, who matures as Finch reveals facts from his own past. The journey continues with its mishaps, joys and losses, until Finch reveals to Jeff what its true mission is.
At the beginning of the text, I commented on the similarity of this film to “Cast Away”. In both, Tom Hanks acts virtually alone, although the Wilson volleyball deserved the Academy Award for Supporting Actor. This time, not only the robot Jeff has a set of wonderful special effects, but also the dog Goodyear, lived by the rescue dog Seamus, has an amazing performance.
“Finch” is a fable about what is or not being human, when men are capable of abominable acts while robots and animals demonstrate sensitivity and emotion. This is a film for the family, because despite the apocalyptic environment it still brings hope that good human values will survive – even if it is in dogs and robots.
This film can be found on the Apple Plus platform.