Finch review: Tom Hanks’ post-apocalyptic robot movie is mighty soft and squishy

Tom Hanks’ career is dotted with American Everyman characters he’s transformed into iconic, fantastical figures by presenting them in naturalistic and humane ways. A teenager who lives the life he dreams of. LargeA man dying willing to jump into a volcano. Joe Versus VolcanoThe man who has lived a million lives Forrest GumpThe Toy Story classic American cowboy is played by a gangster named. Way to PerditionAn FBI Agent inCatch Me If You CanBen Bradlee was a respected newspaperman. The PostThey all have something in common. As ordinary people, they all share something in common. Few actors exist the way Hanks does, in that space between “instantly recognizable” and “consistently malleable.” His new sci-fi movie FinchThis duality can both strengthen and hinder.

A tonally bizarre film that’s half motion-capture PinocchioStories, half-live-action adaptations Futurama’s infamously melancholy “Jurassic Bark” episode, Finch relies on Hanks’ instant likeability and genuine warmth to drive home the devastation of a post-apocalyptic world Movie lovers know Hanks’ expressions and intonations, his body language, and his physicality, and his familiarity is key to the immediate sympathy the character and film require. Director Miguel Sapochnik (a Game of Thrones veteran who earned attention for episodes like “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”) is betting on Hanks’ decades of accrued good will. With every one of Hanks’ aghast eye squints, bemused double looks, and easy laughs, Sapochnik is making the same gamble that the Wachowskis did with Hanks in their far superior sci-fi movie, Cloud Atlas.

Was ist das? Cloud Atlas But, it was something I would have done. Finch does not, is complicate Hanks and make him more than just It is america’s Dad. Instead, Finch sets up a driving selfishness in Hanks’ character that the film mistakes for selflessness. A Good Will Hunting-style speech about the experience of living life vs. just reading about it doesn’t work so well when it’s self-importantly delivered to a robot made to do a human’s bidding. And whatever subversive questions the film could have raised about the responsibilities people carry when dealing with AI get lost in the film’s increasingly schmaltzy second half, which gestures toward an I Am Legend exploration of societal collapse, but ultimately doesn’t follow through in a compelling way.

Photo by Apple TV Plus

In the near future Finch Finch Weinberg (Hanks), a robotics engineer, follows him as he tries to make a living in the ruins of St. Louis. Craig Luck and Ivor Powell’s script parcels out information a bit at a time: A combination of ozone destruction and an electromagnetic pulse (à la The MatrixIt has made the United States into a scorching, radioactive wasteland. Finch has chosen to remain in the Midwest, as desperate people often do the most dangerous things. Both the South and East Coasts have dangers. He drives around in an old, souped up construction vehicle. While wearing a gradually degrading UV suit, he explores buildings and collects supplies and resources. And by night, in his dual laboratory and home in tech company headquarters Tae Technologies, Finch plays with his dog Goodyear — for whom he’s been assembling a robot companion.

Years of exposure to the elements have destroyed Finch’s insides, and he’s slowly starving from the lack of food. Cinematographer Jo Willems emphasizes Hanks’ emaciated frame with compositions that juxtapose him as the lone man amid the metallics of his laboratory, his weatherbeaten skin and thinning hair a contrast to an expansive library and a paltry pantry. Finch’s only concern is ensuring Goodyear’s safety after he dies, and so when the robot he built comes to life, Finch devotes himself to teaching the robot how to survive.

Caleb Landry Jones is the motion-capture actor who plays Jeff. Jeff contorts himself into bizarre, Gumby-like postures, and his voice and delivery kind of sound like Borat performing a Yoda impression. Twin PeaksRed Room. Jeff’s youthful immaturity is captured well by Jones, and contrasts effectively with Hanks’ bristling earthiness. But their relationship and its reliance on “Who’s on first?”-style wordplay and disappointed-parent looks from Hanks is familiar to the point of generic. The movie even suggests that they might be actually Teach each other The rapidity of living: How to Live FinchLaunches into uncharitable territory could cause whiplash.

Photo by Apple TV Plus

There’s inconsistency and unwieldiness throughout. Sapochnik hides his film among the environmental horrors of eco-thrillers. There are bodies piled high on top of old skyscrapers and a collection of books about ecological despair. Hanks serves as the guide and a constant throughout the movie’s bleakness. He is also the voice of reason and a survivor in a time when so many things seem hopeless. (And also a grump: He complains about the Internet, his coworkers, and other people’s parenting styles. Finch used to be a bit of an annoying character before the end, but this movie portrays his personality traits as principled. The movie, on the other hand presents Finch as a character who is always there for you whenever Finch dares to venture into the social-responsibility aspect of bringing another living thing into a dying world, the film then backs off from engaging with that idea any further past “But Goodyear needs a friend!”

Fair enough, Goodyear can be very adorable. Jeff, too! The movie has a whole “PG-rated Chappie” vibe that almost makes it heartwarming. The refusal to grapple with any ethical questions relating to Finch’s actions, though, keep the film from feeling like true sci-fi, and the insistence on showing us Finch’s bloody coughs and decaying body keep it from being particularly kid-friendly. “You have a lot to learn,” Finch tells Jeff, but Finch the film doesn’t have much new or insightful to say about either living or dying.

FinchApple TV Plus launches on November 5, 2021.