Direction: Miguel Sapochnik
Country: USA
A dying engineer (Tom Hanks as the title character), a spirited robot (Caleb Landry Jones) and a sympathetic dog make the peculiar team at the center of Finch, an average post-apocalyptic sci-fi road trip that straddles between pitiful dramatics and comedic manners.
Repo Man-director Miguel Sapochnik crafted the film with the help of some striking imagery and sterling effects, and his screenwriters - Ivor Powell (also producer, who worked with Ridley Scott) and Craig Luck - even got the robot right, with a sharp tongue, funny movements and often risky initiative. However, the core of the story is too flimsy and the result a tad predictable.
As one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar phenomenon, Finch Weinberg doesn’t trust people at all, preferring the company of his faithful dog, Goodyear. He roves about in desolated places, where the temperature and the level of radiation are extremely high, to get the supplies that will keep them alive - superstorms can last weeks when they hit. But Finch becomes sicker everyday that passes. He needs someone to take care of the dog when he’s gone, so he creates a robot, who calls himself Jeff, for that task. Teaching this metallic fellow the ways of the world and making that he and Goodyear become buddies are his next challenges.
A lot of data is missing from the powerless script. Many questions are kept unanswered; many situations are unexplained; and we get the impression that this film only wants its audience pleased at all times. Despite the sweetness and affection demonstrated in the relationships, the film lacks twists and - just like the chatty robot - feels artificial.
