Anyone can take an existing idea and move it to a different setting to make something new. For example, you could pitch “Turner & Hooch in a dystopian wasteland.” That’s easy. But that’s not what Apple Original Films is doing with Finch, its newest movie starring Tom Hanks. Instead, the studio went for something much more ambitious. The film’s first trailer feels more like “Turner & Hooch & Also Robot Hooch in a dystopian wasteland.”
And it’s also full of silly robot pratfalls.
Is this movie a comedy? A drama? A sci-fi thriller? I have no idea. I guess it’s all of those things? Can’t be sure though when I’m not even convinced this is a real movie. But it does have an official synopsis, so I’m leaning yes. (Leaning.) From Apple:
“Tom Hanks stars as Finch, a robotics engineer and one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event that has left the world a wasteland. But Finch, who has been living in an underground bunker for a decade, has built a world of his own that he shares with his dog, Goodyear. He creates a robot, played by Caleb Landry Jones, to watch over Goodyear when he no longer can. As the trio embarks on a perilous journey into a desolate American West, Finch strives to show his creation, who names himself Jeff, the joy and wonder of what it means to be alive. Their road trip is paved with both challenges and humor, as it’s as difficult for Finch to goad Jeff and Goodyear to get along as it is for him to manage the dangers of the new world.”
That synopsis might describe the plot of the movie and some of its theme. But you have to hear Jeff the Robot’s voice to really appreciate what’s going on here. Who knew the end of the world would involve so much slapstick. Forget “Turner & Hooch & Also Robot Hooch in a dystopian wasteland.” That description is inadequate
This is more like “Turner and Hooch meet Chappie inside the world of WALL-E.” Now that’s an idea!
Directed by Game of Thrones alum Miguel Sapochnik, Finch travels to Apple TV+ on November 5.