Finch Preview

In the not too distant future, a massive solar flare destroys the earth's protective ozone layer resulting in the obliteration of crops and livestock.  The temperature gets to 150 degrees outside, the ultraviolet radiation is deadly, and the planet, now a post-apocalyptic wasteland, is largely uninhabitable.  Finch Weinberg (Tom Hanks) and his dog Goodyear are two of the survivors.  Finch is a robotics engineer and uses what remains in his company's St. Louis laboratory to build a robot, Dewey, who's prime directive is to protect the dog.

Time is of the essence as Finch anticipates another deadly flare.  He scrambles to get Dewey functional enough to flee for a safer destination.  They have no idea what or who they might encounter along the way, but they'll do it together as Dewey learns to think, feel, and communicate . . . even with Goodyear.

While the Covid-19 Pandemic makes it feel like it's been a while since we've seen Hanks in a leading role, he's actually been keeping quite busy.  Finch is his fifth feature film in the last three years.  His other works have been the fourth Toy Story installment, the role of Fred Rogers in the dark and touching A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a naval Captain in Greyhound, and a messenger of hope and current events in News of the World.

Finch appears to be a possible mix of Cast Away (one of Hanks' previous films about a man stranded for years on a deserted island) and Pinocchio (the next in a trend of Disney live-action remakes of animated classics in which Hanks will play Geppetto, a toy maker who builds a wooden boy companion who comes to life). On his deserted island, Hanks was kept company only by a volleyball he named Wilson, the brand of the volleyball.  In Finch, at least he has a dog that's actually alive and he builds a robot with whom he is able to communicate.  Food, shelter and other necessities were scarce on the island.  While food and water might be in short supply in Finch, it appears he has more options for material resources, travel, and shelter.  And the environment on the island seemed to be much more hospitable than in Finch where he can be immediately severely burned from simply exposing his skin to sunlight.

While I'm not sure what the end-game is in Finch from the preview, we know many things before going in to this movie, even without the preview. . . because it's Tom Hanks.  The acting will be effortless, sincere and believable.  Hanks is one of the best all-time at this and has two Oscars to back that up.  Though, personally, I think he was robbed for not even being nominated for his performances in Saving Mr. Banks and Captain Phillips, but I digress.   We also know there will be a steady balance of character development, relationship building, humor, dramatic obstacles, and tear-jerking moments along the way.

Finch was directed by Miguel Sapochnik.  Who? is exactly the right response to that.  This appears to be one of the few full-length feature films Sapochnik has directed as his repertoire is mostly populated with TV series.  Now, the shows he has directed have been very high caliber: Game of Thrones and True Detective, for example.  But, it still doesn't give us more clues as to what we can expect from Finch as would say a director like Stephen Spielberg, Tim Burton, or Martin Scorsese.

So, honestly, my main motivation to watch this movie is purely Tom Hanks in the leading role.  I'm not sure if I'd be as interested in watching this film if another actor was portraying Finch.  With that, I am tepidly giving Finch a prediction of 3.5 Stars.  It doesn't look like a film that will be nominated for Hanks' performance or for it's original script or special effects or anything else.  I'm not expecting to be blown away.  I'm expecting to smile, maybe tear up once or twice, but ultimately be entertained.  I may want to watch it again, but it probably has little chance of becoming one that I will own in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.