Tom Hanks has a brand new movie streaming right now, and fans of the beloved actor might not have even realized it. The film is titled Finch, and in it Hanks plays Finch Weinberg, a robotics engineer who is one of the only survivors of cataclysmic massive solar flare that destroyed the ozone layer. This has left the Earth essentially inhabitable due to unpredictable weather and extreme heat.
It’s eventually learned that Finch is living with an undiagnosed sickness, and for this reason he begins working on A.I. robot that can look after Goodyear if something should happen to him. With his loyal dog, Goodyear, a helper robot named Dewy, and the A.I. going by Jeff at his side, Finch sets out on a dangerous journey to seek more possible survivors. Along the way, the group encounters perilous circumstances that will test their endurance and courage. Finch is streaming on Apple TV+, for subscribers of the service to watch anytime.
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Hanks spoke at length about the film during a press event in November, and ComicBook.com was on-hand to hear all about it. “All these movies haunt you and demand things of you that you’re not sure that you’re going to be able to summon up,” Hanks said. “The fact is that the movie itself, the screenplay as written, lacked a cynicism that I think a lot of other movies like this would have. Here’s what it does not have: murderous zombies, blood-thirsty bikers from hell, renegade warriors that are going to rape all the women and eat all the children. There’s a lot of stuff that … The tropes, if I dare say so, or the commonalities that an awful lot of these movies have, is different. Finch never goes into a subterranean world and battles the Eloi.”
The Oscar-winning actor went on to say, “The crux of this movie, and as I’ve explained it to people, and everybody goes, ‘What is the science fiction movie you’re doing? What is it about? The end of the world? What, you’re the last guy in the planet? Who wants to see that?’ I said, ‘Well, it’s actually about a guy who is worried about the survival of his dog. And so he builds a robot so that the dog will be taken care of for the rest…” and they go, ‘Oh, well, that’s adorable.’ So this is not an optimistic movie at all, but it does lack a cynicism, and I think cynicism is a default option. It’s coin of the realm to say that, and we pay attention to the fact that society collapsed in the movie by way of some flashbacks. But after that, it takes onto itself, I think the reality is, is that the day is what you make of it.”
“And luckily, or honestly, in the course of this movie, it starts with Finch not just surviving, but surviving for the specific purpose of making sure his dog is safe, and that’s not a cynical undertaking,” Hanks later said assuringly. “He doesn’t think, ‘Oh, I’ll be able to do this fine, because we all love each other.’ There’s not that brand of optimism of it all. It’s going to be hard work and it’s going to be a hard slog, but if you have lived a life, you realize, ‘Well, with a little bit of luck and some effort, not being too disappointed when life kicks me in the teeth, we should be okay, we’ll pull through.’”
