Finch; Grade: B-
Finch takes place in a world in which is too hot to sustain caused by a solar flare, as temperatures reach to 150 degrees even, causing the human skin to burn when expose outside… THAT’S HOT! In this world comes an engineer by the name of Finch (Tom Hanks), whom is accompanied by his dog. Finch has been building a robot to protect his dog when he’s dead and gone, as Finch is dealing with a serious health problem. Finch’s robot Jeff (Caleb Landry Jones) gets completed in the Nick of time, as Finch teaches the robot the basics of how to operate on a daily basis meaning walking and such. A massive storm is approaching, as Finch must travel from St. Louis to San Francisco to secure safety for his robot but more importantly his dog.
There has been comparisons to Wall-E, as it does feature a similar setting where the world has been turned to shit due to some kind of climate crisis, featuring a robot. I can see the comparisons, however I feel both differ immensely as they’re both completely different.
Visually I felt Finch was simply done, it’s not really a grand spectacle however the world building felt a bit realistic if something were to happen of this nature. Also felt the design for the robot was kind of cool, I’ve seen better designed robots however this felt like an accurate design when it comes to building one in reality.
Tom Hanks delivers a pretty good performance as Finch, a man whom has an emotional attachment to keep his pup safe, as the emotional ties were on par with Hanks’ convincing performance. Caleb Landry Jones does a solid job with the voice acting of Jeff the robot, honestly Jeff is the best character in the entire film. Jeff though programmed, felt extremely humane and even relatable as one whom is harmless and is just trying to figure out the world around them.
The story of Finch felt pretty much by the books, where you’ve seen this kind of story told thousands of times before. If you’re expecting a exciting time with Finch… You’re going to be extremely disappointed. It’s a story about a dying man going across the country to safety with his dog and the robot he just built, there wasn’t much tension nor much conflict with the journey, we had just one moment of conflict and that moment didn’t last long or had much affect in the story. It’s fine to watch especially has some solid emotional moments here and there with all three characters, however I find it troubling the viewer isn’t at all worried about any of these characters making it to safety, not to mention when something terribly happens with their vehicle… All is forgotten and everything is fine. Speaking of the solar flare: Is it odd that the vehicle their driving in is ran on solar, despite this whole climate crisis was caused by solar?! Kind of reminds of those speaking at the climate change summit claiming they care so deeply about our planet, yet they still ride around in their private jets and helicopters… I’m just saying (Frances McDormand voice).
My biggest flaw with Finch is the moment where the character Finch gets pissed off at Jeff, for going into an abandoned building. Jeff was only hoping to help Finch as he became extremely ill, by gathering some food or medicine in which he desperately needed. I really don’t understand why Finch gets mad at Jeff, like the area was not marked plus you’re literally closing in on dying, why get mad at Jeff for actually putting in effort in risking his own life to help your life?!
Overall, Finch was a fairly decent film. I recommend checking this one out on Apple TV Plus, don’t expect fireworks from this one. -Mitch Smietana