Finch (2021)

(YouTube streaming, November 2022) “Post-apocalyptic Tom Hanks and his pet robot” is about as succinct a description of Finch as you’re likely to get. Hanks is on-screen for most of the film, and remains its only significant human character. His character has the luck of being a genius engineer with access to a state-of-the-art industrial laboratory once the apocalypse hits, and the story picks up a few years later as he scrounges through the remnants of St. Louis and builds himself an android. Alas, his careful plans for long-term survival are threatened when a major storm forces him to pack up his dog, his robot and his motor home (abandoning his machine learning curriculum at 72%) and head west where, maybe, there could be other humans. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic survival, then Finch at least looks like it belongs: grey-brown landscapes, destroyed remnants of human civilization and nothing more than a guy, a dog and a robot. As a screenwriting challenge, Finch does its best with its self-imposed restraints and its clear objective: the human is dying and wants to provide care and companionship for his dog once he’s gone—hence the robot. The westward quest narrative is enlivened by as many character moments as a single human and an immature robot can provide, although there isn’t anything new here if you’ve seen at least one other “What does it mean for a robot to learn how to be human?” kind of story. Director Miguel Sapochnik keeps things moving at a steady but not rollicking pace. There’s an obviousness of execution to Finch that both comforts and disappoints—a strange premise executed as familiarly as possible to keep audiences comforted even against an apocalyptic background and the impending death of its main character. Hanks certainly helps the film keep an upbeat tone despite its story elements—Finch is nowhere near as depressing as it could have been. The film’s production history intriguingly suggests that an entire final act was shot but abandoned in editing—most probably the right call in order to keep the film’s focus well-defined. But in the end, it suggests that the director was playing it safe here—as safe as the rest of the film. But safe also means unremarkable, and that’s where Finch clearly chooses to go.