Finch movie: Tom Hanks pulls heartstrings in robo-buddy movie
The timing of Tom Hanks’ new film Finch is either perfect or terrible depending on your outlook. The sci-fi drama with an environmental backdrop comes to Apple TV+ just as major leaders are deciding how to tackle the climate crisis at the COP26 conference in Glasgow. If anyone can inspire people to make a change, surely it’s everyone’s favourite Oscar winner?
The film is directed by Miguel Sapochnik, best known for taking the lead on The Long Night episode of Game of Thrones. It stars Hank as Finch, an older man living alone in the aftermath of a climate event that has left the Ozone Layer “like Swiss Cheese” and much of the planet uninhabitable. Finch spends his days scavenging parts for his bunker and food for his beloved dog but those trips have taken their toll; he is slowly dying of radiation poisoning.
He builds a robot named Jeff (Caleb Landry Jones) to look after his pet, but just as Jeff is finding his legs the three have to hit the road as a superstorm descends on their St Louis base. Heading to San Francisco, Finch tries to teach Jeff how to survive with the time he has left.
In essence, it’s a road trip with a man, his dog, and his robot. You may remember Jones from his supporting roles in Three Billboards and Get Out, but you won’t recognise him here as he provides the motions and voice of Jeff. The character is a mixture of Wall-E and Short Circuit’s Johnny 5, wandering round Finch’s world with a youthful exuberance but a habit for ignoring instructions. He’s charming, yelling a cheering “Hello Dog!” to Finch’s wary canine, with a glitchy voice that sounds like a synthetic Borat. Far from a detached mo-cap performance, Jones brings humanity to the nuts and bolts, particularly during the heartstring-shredding third act.
This innocence is paired with Hanks’ unique brand of likeability, making the majority of the film a charming odd couple adventure, albeit one with a sinister backdrop. These characters live with the consequences of mankind’s actions, and extra foreboding comes with the knowledge that this is one of several possibilities for our future. It’s a gloomy outlook, especially as the feeling grows that there may not be a cavalry coming to the rescue. However, Sapochnik and Hanks bring home the idea that while there is life, there is hope.
Finch has its problems, chiefly an overreliance on sentimentality and stretched movie logic. But with two fine storytellers at work, it’s sure to leave many in a blubbery mess.