"Finch" a gentle, simply beautiful gem

Finch (2021)

Those eternally allergic to movies that are earnest and even sentimental will probably find “Finch” to be, well, too earnest and sentimental. With that being said, this is the kind of story that demands a gentle touch when the backdrop is so desolate and hopeless. Unparalleled originality may be in short supply—it is part “WALL-E” and part “I Am Legend” for sure—but sometimes, all you need is a lovable movie star, an anthropomorphic robot that isn’t annoying, and an adorable doggo that won’t be found on spoiler site “Does the Dog Die?” Expertly made and beautiful in its simplicity, “Finch” is just an emotionally involving gem.

Playing the Last Man on Earth (from what we see) is not a giant leap for Tom Hanks, as he was isolated on an island with a not-so-chatty volleyball in “Cast Away.” This time stuck on Earth ruined by a solar flare, Hanks plays Finch Weinberg, a weary engineer who knows he’s slowly dying from side effects of lethal UV radiation. For the time being, Finch and his robotic prototype Dewey search Missouri, or what’s left of it, for spare parts before coming home to his only family, a rescue mutt named Goodyear (played by one Seamus). Once Finch nearly perfects his manufactured A.I. he calls “Jeff” and teaches him to walk, the trio packs up the RV and heads for the Golden Gate Bridge, a landmark Finch has always wanted to see in person and not just in a postcard. What Finch hopes for when he’s gone is that Jeff will be sentient enough to take care of Goodyear. 

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik (a TV veteran making his second feature after 2010’s “Repo Men”), the film drops you right into this dusty post-apocalyptic world without an owner’s manual, and yet time is taken to establish the palpable solitary life Finch has had to adjust to all this time. How much we learn about Finch in the before times is limited, although a third-act monologue about Finch’s father is quite affecting. A deliberate, unfussy approach under Sapochnik’s direction via Craig Luck and Ivor Powell’s script is all too appropriate when no one is around and there is no longer a hustle and bustle. The stakes don’t get much higher than, “When will Finch die? And when he does, will Jeff be able to take care of Goodyear?” and the uncertainty of the future is enough. Even if it doesn’t amount to much, there is a very suspenseful sequence involving a threatening car that’s following our trio on a winding desert road at night.

Acting opposite a terrific Tom Hanks is an unusually cuddly and endearing Caleb Landry Jones. Having cornered the market on playing strange and often untrustworthy characters, Jones voices and motion-captures (with top-notch visual effects) the role of robot Jeff, who sounds like a mechanical Borat and doubles as a can opener. Unlike Pinocchio, Jeff will never be a real boy, but taking after his Geppetto will make him more human. The film’s third acting role goes to Goodyear, the man’s best friend, played by Seamus, who gives one of the better dog performances that isn’t made solely out of cute reaction shots. “Finch” initially feels like the road ahead will be a derivative one, but the deft blend of melancholy, levity, and pathos never feels synthetic. As a dystopian road movie, it deals with one’s mortality and responsibility for survival in a poignant, uncompromising way, and Don McLean’s “American Pie” has never felt more perfectly used. Though “heartwarming” is a hyperbolic word that should be avoided, “Finch” actually earns that description.

Grade: B +

Apple TV+ is releasing “Finch” (115 min.) to stream on November 5, 2021.