Finch

Starring: Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones (voice)
Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, a man (Tom Hanks) builds a robot to help take care of his dog.

Review:

Tim: I've been looking forward to Finch since it was first announced. When I heard they were making a movie (called Bios back then) about a post-apocalyptic world and it involved To Hanks, a robot and a dog, I was ecstatic. This was going to be good. Miguel Sapochnik's film is indeed good, but bafflingly, not great. I liked the movie yes, but I found it squandered much of its potential. I enjoyed the movie, but it leaves a lingering sense of disappointment about what it could have been.

The heart of the story is a good one. I loved the idea of Tom Hanks' survivor building a robot to help with his dog. This forms this unique and unexpected family unit as the nucleus of the film. Hanks is one of the greatest actors of all time, so you know he's going to tug our heartstrings in the role. The premise and thrust of the story is a good one. It allows for a lot of character development and drama and it delivers some intense sequences as well. These are all pluses for the film.

Since Hanks is the only real actor in the cast, I do want to hit on him for a minute. It's no surprise that he's all my time favorite actor. I've seen every movie he has ever done. I can't remember the last bad movie he's made. In a career filled with so many effective movies, it's become commonplace to expect greatness or near greatness from whatever he does. For that reason, this movie perhaps had unfair expectations on it. For any other actor, a good movie is at least a good movie. For Hanks, though, it doesn't feel nearly good enough. I can't fault him too much for his performance here. It might not be quite as perfect as many of his other performances. There were a few moments that felt forced. However, there's still things that he does in this film that few other actors in the world could pull off. He's that talented. Seeing Hanks in this role was the main attraction and the best part of the film.

The worst part of the movie is Jeff, the robot. I didn't expect this, but I found him incredibly annoying. I understand the progression of his character from beginning to end is an essential part of the film, but I didn't find him funny, interesting, or all that engaging. I tried to ignore these feelings for the sake of the film, but they ultimately proved too overpowering. I think Caleb Landry Jones is a good actor, but his voice work grated on my nerves. I don't think he did enough to endear this character to the audience. If one of the three main characters (the third being a dog) is hard to stomach, the movie isn't quite going to work as expected.

Now, Finch is certainly a good movie. It features Hanks doing his thing. There's a beautiful story about trying to protect the dog. It features some solid visuals and a few intense sequences. There's some emotional moments. It's a good movie, for sure. However, the ingredients here were for something truly special. I really believe this comes down to Miguel Sapochnik. He did some excellent work on Game of Thrones, but his small feature film career hasn't been too impressive. This movie is better than Repo Men, but it's not what it could have been.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Repo Men, Castaway, Apollo 13, Cloud Atlas