Brandon Garcia, Guest Writer
Photo//rogerebert.com.
The movie Finch came out on Apple+ November 5th with Tom Hanks as its lead.
Hanks is the only actual actor in the film and his character is named Finch. He is accompanied by a robot named Jeff who is voiced by actor Caleb Landry Jones. To Seamus the dog, who plays Hanks companion, Goodyear, rounds out the cast.
The film takes place on a post-apocalyptic earth after the sun has had sever solar flares that make earth almost impossible to live on. Due to harmful radiation, Finch Weinberg is going to die soon. Since he knows his death is soon, he does not want to leave his dog Goodyear unattended.
Since he is a robotics engineer, he creates an artificial intelligent robot whose sole purpose is to protect and take care of the dog when he is gone. When a dangerous storm trashes their plans, they head across the country to the Golden Gate Bridge. There are a couple of bonuses attached to the trip: toy see its beauty for the first time and to possibly find Finch’s family members.
SPOILER ALERT: Although the journey is too difficult and for Finch they run out of time, the journey teaches the characters about love, friendship, and the meaning human life. On Finch's last day, they find that not every location on earth is harmful, so he gets to spend one last day in the sun spending it with his dog and passing the responsibility to Jeff the robot.
The beauty of the movie is in its simplicity. Almost everyone can relate to the bond of having a pet and how it can be serious as any relationship one has in life.
This was not about trying to save the world, but letting the dog live at the rest of its life and Finch being able to die in peace knowing Goodyear will be taken care of. There have been many post-apocalyptic movies about earth, but what sets this one apart is the emotion and dialogue. Hank’s character has not been able to talk to anyone in years. We see a new friendship between Finch and Jeff the robot.
Finch has regret and defense mechanisms that create emotional obstacles. During the course of the journey, you see the internal walls come down. Finch was a man out of time, but that doesn’t have to be the case for other people.
Overall, the film is very well done and leaves you in your feeling for a robot.
It shows how it is easy to fall for the not so optimistic side of love, friendship, and the meaning of human life. It also shows how a person can change and to accept things you cannot control and find beauty in the things you did not expect.
ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT: The film ends with Jeff the Robot and Goodyear walking on the Golden Gate bridge achieving what Finch wanted. Things feel like it will work out for them as they go search for other people.
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