508: Finch

[Henry Faherty]:\nTwo fifteen. Let's get to the last movie of this AI collection, which is Finch. Came out in twenty twenty one and is a Apple TV plus exclusive or original film. It is directed by Miguel Sapochnik, stars Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones. Those are the only two big names or prominent names. And the synopsis is, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\non a post apocalyptic Earth, a robot built to protect the life of his creator's beloved dog learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human. So I saw this one for the first time maybe a year ago. I had heard about it for a while. Just didn't get around to watching it until way after it came out. I was like, okay. Cool. It's a Tom Hanks movie. It's sci fi. I like Apple TV plus films typically, so I'm curious. I ended up liking it way more \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nthan I thought I would. And I rewatched it, of course, for this just recently. And while it's never going to be \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\na masterpiece, I don't think it's never gonna be a genre generation defining film. What it sets out to do, it does so well. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nOf all the films that I've talked about in this group, while films like Her \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nare definitely emotional, this is the only one and, honestly, the only film that I can think of in a long, long time that actually makes me tear up. Because it's rare I cry in movies or even get a little misty, but this one, both times, has achieved that. Going in the first time, I didn't realize that it was produced by Amblin Entertainment, which is Steven Spielberg's company or one of, because I was gonna say, first thing, this feels very Steven Spielberg, but in the best way. It's also produced by Robert Zemeckis of Back to the Future fame, of course. I didn't know much at all about the story itself. It is very simple, but effectively so. It is this guy in a post apocalyptic world, as the synopsis says, who is dying from some sort of disease or maybe cancer or something like that. I don't think it's ever specified, but it's mainly due to the exposure to all the UV radiation that the Earth has gotten super hot, and he is just slowly \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\ndeclining. He has this beloved dog who is his only friend and partner, and he \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nhas spent all this time designing a robot to take care of the dog after he dies because he knows that he's gonna die. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nThat \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nright out of the gate is a win for me. Like, that gets me interested because for one, I love dogs. Dogs have been a saving grace, a lifesaver for me throughout my whole life, and I think they will continue to be as they are for many. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nAnd so, typically, whenever there's a dog involved in a film like this, I'm usually invested more than maybe the average person would be. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nTalking about the Spielberg isms, which it's not only dealing with sci fi, but it has this dysfunctional family of sorts, this ragtag team \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nof friends who are more like family. And then the main point of the road trip is to go find hopefully find Tom Hanks' father in San Francisco. And so you have the absent father there, but then \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nTom Hanks also knows that he's going to be absent for this dog. And so that's why he, really, it's honestly a coming of age film for the robot because he's teaching the robot how to navigate life, how to drive, how to throw the ball for the dog, you know, play fetch, and it has a very genuine playfulness to it. The humor is very childlike, and all the characters are very earnest and restrained and down to earth. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nAlso, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nanother thing that I was really relieved about is that this movie only touches on the human conflict in terms of it's almost like the Walking Dead slogan, fight the dead, fear the living. This very refreshingly only that's a very minor little moment in the film. One of which is Tom Hanks talking about how he came across the dog, and then there's the scene when they go into this abandoned skyscraper or mall or something, and they make a lot of noise thanks to the Jeff the robot not thinking, and this car follows them. But I'm so glad that that's all it was. With this film, you get more than enough drama and conflict purely through a survival narrative and then also the emotional ups and downs with these three characters, including the dog, I mean. I know also that some critics, maybe some audiences, pointed out the uninspired nature of the world, like the post apocalyptic world. But for me, I guess, in a sense, I get that. But at the same time, it was obvious to me that's not the point at all of this narrative. You could have technically put these three characters in another context in another time, and it still would have been mostly the same movie. So for me, that was very much a backdrop. It looks great for one thing, even though it's all desert, it's all just sand and dust blowing. I think it's really well shot. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nAnd there's a lot of great natural light. Like, even when the movie starts and you're watching Tom Hanks walk through this dust storm, and then when he's rummaging through these dark rooms, but there's still a lot of very striking \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nlight sources that make the whole thing look much prettier than it would normally need to be or that it has to be. This is also one of Tom Hanks' best performances in a long time. I don't think he's ever given a bad one, but this is definitely one of his more nuanced and emotionally gripping. The diner scene where they stop and Jeff, the robot, is trying to drive, that's very funny. There's good comedy in it, and that's what feels very Spielberg. And I like how even though Tom Hanks I mean, it really is a very good, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nrealistic, grounded look at a father son relationship where you're trying to help them, you're trying to teach them, but no matter what you do, they're gonna make mistakes. But then in this case, it really is life or death. So, obviously, Tom Hanks is much more dramatic than he might need to be in other situations, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nwhich if I was in that sort of situation or even in a normal world like now, I would love to have a robot designed in this way to take care of my dogs when I died. That would be a dream come true. Some other enjoyable, charming scenes is the one with Tom Hanks showing Jeff the popcorn popping on the the pan or whatever it is. The tornado, that's another not funny scene, but very suspenseful and well shot when they're having to nail down the spikes to keep the RV or the trailer on the ground, and then they have to rush inside. The tornado comes through and knocks every single spike off except for one. Jumping towards the end real quick, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nthe final fifteen minutes of this movie are so touching and poignant, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nespecially for any pet owner, animal lover. Like, it really puts you in that situation if you were Tom Hanks and you knew you're on your last leg and you just wanted to throw the ball for your dog one more time and you saw your son of sorts learning, and you knew that things were gonna be okay. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nNot only that, but the probably the most heart wrenching moment is when Tom Hanks does eventually die in the trailer, and the dog wakes up and notices it. And you hear his howls of sorrow from outside because Jeff is sitting outside, and you just hear that awful whine of the dog knowing that his owner has died. So really good stuff on a emotional level and sticks with you. If I can care about who I'm following, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nthat's a big achievement. And it's hard to do. It's you know, you take that for granted, but you watch this and then you watch so many other sci fi films, so many other blockbusters, and I could care less about what's going on or if someone gets to where they wanna go or anything in that realm. The score is excellent. It's by the composer of The Last of Us, the games part one and two. So very, very good score. I think I've said that every single time I've reviewed in this collection, but whatever. Besides Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones as Jeff the robot, that performance, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nI wish he could have gotten more praise because I've \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nreally liked what he's done. I haven't seen all of his works, but, typically, when I see him in a movie, there's always something interesting that he does. And this is, I would say, my favorite performance of his to date, and the sound design of his voice is very strong as well. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nSo could not say enough about this one. You gotta see it. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nI am, in some ways, glad that it's on Apple TV plus because I feel like if this had come out in theaters, nobody would have seen it, and then it would have come out on demand, but then would have been swept under the rug. At the same time, Apple TV plus seems to be one of the smaller subscription services as of now. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nBecause the main reason I ask people that is so I can recommend Finch, and I hope that it has a shelf life in the years to come. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nThat one is a heavy four and a half \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nout of five. \n\n