A scientist builds a robot to protect his dog after the apocalypse.
DRAMA/SCI-FI
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Finch (2021)Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
Written by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell Starring Tom Hanks and Caleb Landry Jones |
Apple TV Plus's film output this year has been scarce, but mostly decent. There was Cherry early in the year, which was abysmal, but Apple made up for it with the delightful and endearing CODA. Finch continues that trend, delivering a sweet, charming, post-apocalyptic drama about humanity, family, faith, and a robot named Jeff. Who else but Tom Hanks could lead a film about the death of nearly all humanity and have it be quirky and pleasant?
A massive solar flare has punctured the ozone and destroyed most of planet Earth. Anyone who didn't burn or starve to death has become murderous and desperate. A brilliant scientist named Finch Weinberg (Hanks) has managed to keep himself and his dog Goodyear alive. But Finch's health is failing and he wants to make sure his dog survives. To ensure this, he builds a sentient robot that names itself Jeff (Jones). Finch teaches Jeff about survival, humanity, identity, and belief, and over the course of a road trip to San Francisco, Jeff becomes his own person. It's a beautiful story of self-discovery. I also like how other people are presented as soulless monsters hellbent on taking everything Finch has. We never see them as characters, only as a frightening obstacle. Finch is a solid post-apocalypse drama with more comedy than I expected and two fantastic performances from Tom Hanks and Caleb Landry Jones. I wish Apple would produce more than three movies a year, if that. They're clearly getting better with picking productions. |