Their first interaction ends with Goodyear peeing balefully on Jeff’s detached legs while the robot’s head watches from a workbench --Elias Dickey, 9th grade
Finch: A heart-wrenching story of a dying man, his dog, and a newly born robot traversing a sun-ravaged apocalyptic wasteland. Finch Weinberg, one of the few survivors of sun flares that destroyed the atmosphere, is chased out of his abandoned windmill bunker by a massive weather event. Setting a course for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Finch takes only his dog Goodyear, his rover-like droid Dewey, and his most recent invention, a quirky robot named Jeff, created for the sole purpose of protecting Goodyear. As they brave the dangers of this perilous dustbowl in an 80’s era RV, Finch finds a friend in Jeff as the robot gradually learns the ways of the world. The group is faced with lethal radiation, a tornado, and several dangerous encounters with hunger-driven people willing to do the unthinkable just to find their next meal.
Finch appears first as a solemn, no-nonsense type of character, and Tom Hanks does the brooding survivor justice in his role. Already accustomed to the dire circumstances that the sun flares left the world in, he doesn’t leave much space for idle time. Due to the radiation exposure from the sun flares, by the 10 minute mark of the movie, Finch is coughing up blood into a towel, and minutes later it’s apparent that he hasn’t got much time left. At the beginning of the movie, he doesn’t speak much, except for any necessary commands to Dewey and Goodyear. He doesn’t seem to have much patience for Jeff after he creates the android, either. “I know you were born yesterday but it’s time for you to grow up!” exclaims Finch after the robot nearly destroys their only form of transportation. However, after he’s driven out of his bunker, the dying inventor has to quickly impart Jeff’s directive to him mixed in with a few life lessons along the way.
However, Finch himself isn’t the spitting image of a functional person for the most part, as years of the apocalypse have made him paranoid. One instance in particular made him especially wary of the human race. A late night, when he was looting for food, he encountered a mother and daughter duo in the same store. He quickly hid behind some shelving and heard the mother instruct the little girl to shoot anyone who came near with a small revolver. Minutes later, a a station wagon pulls up after having seen the little girl. A hunger-crazed man with a shotgun barged into the store, bringing the mother running back to the front, but after a rapid chorus of gunshots, it was over. His irritable nature is most likely a direct result of this, and the character does get tough to like at times with his little patience towards his robots. But, while they dodge disasters, natural and manmade, Jeff starts to bring Finch out of his fear-formed shell.
Jeff the robot, to contrast Finch, is cheery and curious until he’s brought down to earth both by Finch’s accounts of the dangerous planet and by seeing it himself. His speech is, at first, very artificial. His movement is choppy as well and he doesn’t even think to give himself a name until their first evening together. The robot suggests Jack, Rover, and William Shakespeare, until he tentatively puts out the name Jeff to Finch (apparently as a completely spitballed idea that aesthetically appealed to the robot), who chuckles, but then shakes Jeff’s hand to solidify the name. The robot imitates Finch at the beginning of the movie, not completely following the inventor’s directions to “do as I do,” but you can tell by the mannerisms the robot picks up along the way that he doesn’t ever completely stop imitating Finch. By the end, Jeff’s speech, along with his emotional range, is very human, and he still retains that naive but admirable desire to help people.
The film crew actually had a real robot onset (Dewey) which was controlled at any given time by 5-6 people. Jeff was motion captured to Caleb Landry Jones’ performance and then the rest of him CG animated by a team of 60-70 VFX artists. And while the animation in combination with the mocap is sublime, the intendedly humanoid robot, along with his bonds with the characters, sometimes comes across as artificial. Jeff can sometimes understand complex human emotions and other times can’t figure out when to stop imitating Finch, and the inconsistent mix makes for a confusing character at times. In addition, Jeff’s directive also leaves me with a lot of questions. In the beginning, it’s established that the robot can’t allow his maker harm, through action or inaction, but this mantra seems completely abandoned when Jeff attempts to drive away with the RV, leaving Finch stranded surrounded by scorching sun in a diner, or when he leaves his creator unguarded in the middle of a sketchy looking city. This can be overlooked as naivete, but for a robot who can tell you the number of rivets in the Golden Gate bridge, it doesn’t seem like common sense should be a massive ask.
Goodyear, an Irish Terrier mix (played by Seamus) is very trusting of Finch. From the beginning of the film, it’s apparent by Finch’s beaming smile and the way they gravitate into each other's company after their monotonous days that Finch needs Goodyear as much as Goodyear needs him. However, when Jeff tries to imprint upon the dog, Goodyear reacts defensively. Their first interaction ends with Goodyear peeing balefully on Jeff’s detached legs while the robot’s head watches from a workbench. This standoffish behavior continues into Jeff’s first attempt at walking, during which Goodyear barks uncontrollably at the uncoordinated robot. The dog quiets down after they leave their home on the abandoned windmill energy farm.
Later in their road trip, Jeff decides that trying to speak the dog’s language would be a worthwhile way to spark their bonding. On their second morning on the road, Finch wakes up to Jeff imitating the dog. Goodyear, understandably, doesn’t respond to this any better than Finch, and the dog gives the robot a piece of his mind, returning the android’s tinny yaps. Jeff doesn’t take well to this, and complains to Finch, “I told you he doesn’t like me,” (something he’ll repeat an irritating number of times throughout the movie). After Finch gives Jeff a little lesson about trust, Jeff begins to understand the dog, and slowly, the two begin to become accustomed to each other. On the group’s last day together (and after they find a patch of land in the Bay Area where the sun doesn’t burn them), Finch shows Jeff how to play fetch with the dog. But Goodyear is a creature of habit, and always returns the ball to Finch, even as Jeff attempts to throw it.
Then, at the culmination of their perilous journey, Finch dies. His hand falls still as he strokes Goodyear softly for the last time in the back of the RV. Both Finch and Goodyear are shocked and overwhelmed with grief, even though both were expecting this on some level. Goodyear’s howls fill the camper as the light fades from the blue sky until Jeff mounts Finch on a makeshift funeral pyre and sets it ablaze in the starry night. The next day after Finch’s death, Jeff does his best to do what Finch would do, and after he feeds Goodyear, he takes the dog out to try fetching one last time. You can almost see the surprise in the artificial lenses of Jeff’s eyes when Goodyear drops the ball right at his feet.
The movie comes to a close on a hopeful note with Jeff and Goodyear, who have finally developed a strong trust between them, on the Golden Gate Bridge, with a sign reading Finch Weinberg, Loved by Goodyear and Jeff in the foreground, and with a beautiful blue non-deadly sky around them. “You think they’re still out there?” asks Jeff to Goodyear (referring to the survivors mentioned in the postcards pinned onto the bridge.) “Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
The movie is a good one, a dystopian but hopeful outlook on the apocalypse, one that’s especially relevant now as a combination of a global pandemic and what could shape up to be WWIII become a part of our daily lives. The characters individually are well-thought-out for the most part, and fit well into the hellish landscape and storyline of the film. However, in combination with each other, there tends to be something left to be desired by how they interact and bond somewhat stiffly. The visual effects of the movie (which I neglected to talk about in-depth) were stunning, and the plot was predictable but satisfactory and excelled at pulling on the viewer’s heartstrings in the more emotional moments. Overall, it is an appealing movie I would recommend (for whatever that’s worth) to most audiences as it dabbles in multiple genres and wows us with its visuals.
Finch appears first as a solemn, no-nonsense type of character, and Tom Hanks does the brooding survivor justice in his role. Already accustomed to the dire circumstances that the sun flares left the world in, he doesn’t leave much space for idle time. Due to the radiation exposure from the sun flares, by the 10 minute mark of the movie, Finch is coughing up blood into a towel, and minutes later it’s apparent that he hasn’t got much time left. At the beginning of the movie, he doesn’t speak much, except for any necessary commands to Dewey and Goodyear. He doesn’t seem to have much patience for Jeff after he creates the android, either. “I know you were born yesterday but it’s time for you to grow up!” exclaims Finch after the robot nearly destroys their only form of transportation. However, after he’s driven out of his bunker, the dying inventor has to quickly impart Jeff’s directive to him mixed in with a few life lessons along the way.
However, Finch himself isn’t the spitting image of a functional person for the most part, as years of the apocalypse have made him paranoid. One instance in particular made him especially wary of the human race. A late night, when he was looting for food, he encountered a mother and daughter duo in the same store. He quickly hid behind some shelving and heard the mother instruct the little girl to shoot anyone who came near with a small revolver. Minutes later, a a station wagon pulls up after having seen the little girl. A hunger-crazed man with a shotgun barged into the store, bringing the mother running back to the front, but after a rapid chorus of gunshots, it was over. His irritable nature is most likely a direct result of this, and the character does get tough to like at times with his little patience towards his robots. But, while they dodge disasters, natural and manmade, Jeff starts to bring Finch out of his fear-formed shell.
Jeff the robot, to contrast Finch, is cheery and curious until he’s brought down to earth both by Finch’s accounts of the dangerous planet and by seeing it himself. His speech is, at first, very artificial. His movement is choppy as well and he doesn’t even think to give himself a name until their first evening together. The robot suggests Jack, Rover, and William Shakespeare, until he tentatively puts out the name Jeff to Finch (apparently as a completely spitballed idea that aesthetically appealed to the robot), who chuckles, but then shakes Jeff’s hand to solidify the name. The robot imitates Finch at the beginning of the movie, not completely following the inventor’s directions to “do as I do,” but you can tell by the mannerisms the robot picks up along the way that he doesn’t ever completely stop imitating Finch. By the end, Jeff’s speech, along with his emotional range, is very human, and he still retains that naive but admirable desire to help people.
The film crew actually had a real robot onset (Dewey) which was controlled at any given time by 5-6 people. Jeff was motion captured to Caleb Landry Jones’ performance and then the rest of him CG animated by a team of 60-70 VFX artists. And while the animation in combination with the mocap is sublime, the intendedly humanoid robot, along with his bonds with the characters, sometimes comes across as artificial. Jeff can sometimes understand complex human emotions and other times can’t figure out when to stop imitating Finch, and the inconsistent mix makes for a confusing character at times. In addition, Jeff’s directive also leaves me with a lot of questions. In the beginning, it’s established that the robot can’t allow his maker harm, through action or inaction, but this mantra seems completely abandoned when Jeff attempts to drive away with the RV, leaving Finch stranded surrounded by scorching sun in a diner, or when he leaves his creator unguarded in the middle of a sketchy looking city. This can be overlooked as naivete, but for a robot who can tell you the number of rivets in the Golden Gate bridge, it doesn’t seem like common sense should be a massive ask.
Goodyear, an Irish Terrier mix (played by Seamus) is very trusting of Finch. From the beginning of the film, it’s apparent by Finch’s beaming smile and the way they gravitate into each other's company after their monotonous days that Finch needs Goodyear as much as Goodyear needs him. However, when Jeff tries to imprint upon the dog, Goodyear reacts defensively. Their first interaction ends with Goodyear peeing balefully on Jeff’s detached legs while the robot’s head watches from a workbench. This standoffish behavior continues into Jeff’s first attempt at walking, during which Goodyear barks uncontrollably at the uncoordinated robot. The dog quiets down after they leave their home on the abandoned windmill energy farm.
Later in their road trip, Jeff decides that trying to speak the dog’s language would be a worthwhile way to spark their bonding. On their second morning on the road, Finch wakes up to Jeff imitating the dog. Goodyear, understandably, doesn’t respond to this any better than Finch, and the dog gives the robot a piece of his mind, returning the android’s tinny yaps. Jeff doesn’t take well to this, and complains to Finch, “I told you he doesn’t like me,” (something he’ll repeat an irritating number of times throughout the movie). After Finch gives Jeff a little lesson about trust, Jeff begins to understand the dog, and slowly, the two begin to become accustomed to each other. On the group’s last day together (and after they find a patch of land in the Bay Area where the sun doesn’t burn them), Finch shows Jeff how to play fetch with the dog. But Goodyear is a creature of habit, and always returns the ball to Finch, even as Jeff attempts to throw it.
Then, at the culmination of their perilous journey, Finch dies. His hand falls still as he strokes Goodyear softly for the last time in the back of the RV. Both Finch and Goodyear are shocked and overwhelmed with grief, even though both were expecting this on some level. Goodyear’s howls fill the camper as the light fades from the blue sky until Jeff mounts Finch on a makeshift funeral pyre and sets it ablaze in the starry night. The next day after Finch’s death, Jeff does his best to do what Finch would do, and after he feeds Goodyear, he takes the dog out to try fetching one last time. You can almost see the surprise in the artificial lenses of Jeff’s eyes when Goodyear drops the ball right at his feet.
The movie comes to a close on a hopeful note with Jeff and Goodyear, who have finally developed a strong trust between them, on the Golden Gate Bridge, with a sign reading Finch Weinberg, Loved by Goodyear and Jeff in the foreground, and with a beautiful blue non-deadly sky around them. “You think they’re still out there?” asks Jeff to Goodyear (referring to the survivors mentioned in the postcards pinned onto the bridge.) “Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
The movie is a good one, a dystopian but hopeful outlook on the apocalypse, one that’s especially relevant now as a combination of a global pandemic and what could shape up to be WWIII become a part of our daily lives. The characters individually are well-thought-out for the most part, and fit well into the hellish landscape and storyline of the film. However, in combination with each other, there tends to be something left to be desired by how they interact and bond somewhat stiffly. The visual effects of the movie (which I neglected to talk about in-depth) were stunning, and the plot was predictable but satisfactory and excelled at pulling on the viewer’s heartstrings in the more emotional moments. Overall, it is an appealing movie I would recommend (for whatever that’s worth) to most audiences as it dabbles in multiple genres and wows us with its visuals.
