I enjoyed “Finch,” the new dystopian offering on Apple+ TV and even though it’s long at 2 hours 34 minutes, I wasn’t bored at any point. Tom Hanks plays the title character, a survivor of the huge solar flare that wiped out Earth’s civilization, who has been living pretty successfully on his own in a deep ‘fortress of solitude’ type research facility. I really wished he could have stayed there because the place was fascinating and I enjoyed all the modifications he’d made to keep things running for himself, his dog Goodyear and a cute robot named Dewey. But alas, the weather is worsening and apparently his wind turbine power source isn’t going to survive the coming mega hurricane. Without power, his perfect shelter will become unlivable.
Finch had pretty much scavenged everything worthwhile in his immediate vicinity as well so food was going to become an issue soon too or so I surmised.
He has to rush the final stages of creating his most complex creation – a thinking, talking robot. Not to serve as his own companion mind you, but to take care of the dog when Finch himself is gone. The movie makes clear pretty much from the start that Finch has had too much exposure to radiation and is very much on a downward health spiral. The robot, voiced by Caleb Landry Jones, has no name at first but over the course of the movie as he evolves, a name emerges. That whole process was rather amusing. There was only time to download 72% of the vast library into the robot that Finch had originally planned to provide and for the creation to learn to walk and they’re off on a road trip to find a new location.
The robot, who eventually self-selects Jeff as his name (I hope that isn’t too much of a spoiler for you) has been programmed with the famous and enduring Three Laws of Robotics created by Isaac Asimov in 1942 (!) and a fourth Law created by Finch, that any issue of the dog’s well-being overrides all the others. I suppose in the future if Jeff ever encounters a group of hostile humans he can use the Fourth Dog Law to save himself and Goodyear.
Hanks is excellent as always and his Finch is irascible, brilliant, resourceful, impatient, a wonderful dog owner and stern mentor to Jeff. Finch declares he needs no one and really never much cared for people but there are small flashes of a warmer person underneath and he’s definitely the father figure to Jeff. Through the course of the movie we do get Finch’s backstory and some explanation for why he has his heart set on making this trek to the Golden Gate bridge. Always good to have a destination! The elements and hints and clues all hang together well and explain why he treats both Goodyear and Jeff the way he does.
If you read and/or watch much dystopian science fiction, there really wasn’t anything new here as far as world building or the nature of the adventures, other than the plot elements of the robot evolving into greater self-awareness and understanding. The story of Jeff arriving at personhood was pretty straightforward SF as well, but enjoyable to watch and had a few unique elements involving the dog. And Jeff’s fashion sense as to what a well-dressed post-apocalyptic robot should wear was new! I was surprised the film makers didn’t do much more with the vast accumulation of knowledge Jeff possessed but on balance it was probably realistic, as he had to concentrate on ‘growing up’ fast. Time to use the encyclopedia in his CPU later.
I was also bemused at how robotic and not-human Jeff’s appearance was but I guess since Finch didn’t really care about other humans, he didn’t see much point in making his dog’s robot caretaker into a pseudo-human. And of course he had to work with whatever materials he could scavenge and scrounge.
I had to question the capabilities of the RV Finch and Jeff were using for their monumental trek just a tad. I guess the 1984 Fleetwood Southwind RV model was one tough vehicle though! Or else Finch did a lot of enhancements. Either way, it proved to be a trusty vehicle, even when driven by a robot with no learners’ permit.
Goodyear the dog was excellent. He was played by a former rescue canine named Seamus and is believed to be a terrier mix. The relationship between dog and robot is fun to watch because at first the dog isn’t a fan, despite Jeff’s efforts to “learn to speak dog”. By the end of the movie….well, I can’t spoil things. Watch it and see for yourself.
Other than a brief flashback, there really aren’t any other people in the movie, except as implied threats but at certain points there’s a lot of tension as to whether our heroes will escape a cleverly laid trap.
Usually I dislike any movie that makes me tear up but as I said above, we start the film knowing Finch is terminally ill and he gets much more debilitated as the road trip progresses. The entire story was so well done I didn’t even mind my own emotion so that says a lot.
And the film makers do add in some totally unexpected grace notes and signs of hope for the future of the planet, which were lovely and lifted the gloomy atmosphere nicely.
I am worried about Jeff the robot and his first encounter in the future face to face with humans who aren’t Finch, which I guess tells you how much I bought into the whole thing, if I’m still actively concerned the next morning. And dogs don’t live forever either so what will Jeff do when his canine companion crosses the rainbow bridge eventually? Will he find another dog somewhere? Adopt a cat? Build his own robot companion?
Questions for another day and another movie. I’d enjoy a sequel although at this point there’s no talk of one.
I give “Finch” a solid B+/A- and would probably watch it again someday.
I approached the “The Vast of Night” directed by Andrew Patterson, written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, as a viewer who is a longtime lover of B, C and even D science fiction movies, ready for some thrills and a little fun with my popcorn. In the rural area where I grew up, movies such as “Them”, “Attack of the Killer Shrews” and “It Came From Outer Space” were the late night and Saturday matinee fare on our local TV stations. I also loved “The Twilight Zone” and its small slice of eerie life,asking was it or wasn’t it real and never letting you know what happened next after the show ended.