Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
MiraJeff has been busting ass lately to send in reviews. Nice work each time, too. Today, he’s got his take on a film that I missed the other night at a screening. I wanted to go but got delayed at the last minute. I liked the trailer, but bemoaned the fact that what looked like an interesting dramatic concept was being used on yet another murder-mystery instead of fully exploring the concept of what it is about memory that defines us. Maybe that was just the trailer, though. Maybe the film really works. Let’s see...
Hey Harry, MiraJeff here with my take on Robin Williams' latest, The Final Cut. I'll get right down to it. I walked out of this film wondering if what I just saw, was in fact, the final cut. As it stands now, Omar Naim's directorial debut is a lucid concoction of half-assed characters and storylines related by the tiniest of threads. What is most frustrating is how great the concept behind the film is, and how the lame script squanders the potential of such a juicy idea.
Williams stars as Alan Hakman, a cutter, whose job it is to make highlight reels of people's memories once they die. These clip shows are called rememories, and are assembled thanks to Zoe chip technology. The Zoe chip is extremely expensive and affordable only to the richest of the rich. It grows with a baby's nervous system so that the child doesn't even know it is there. Parents are instructed to tell their child that their entire life is being recorded only when they are mentally stable enough to handle it, or around 21 years old. The chip records video and audio through the eyes and ears of the host. There is also a cutter's code, which states that a cutter cannot give away or sell memories entrusted to their care, they cannot mix two peoples' memories or combine Zoe chips, and lastly, the cutter themselves cannot be implanted with a Zoe chip because then their memory will have the memories of other people, just by watching and editing them. Soooo...
The film begins with a flashback to a traumatic event in Alan's childhood. He quickly grows up to be the best cutter in the business, a man willing to look at and sort through memories than other cutter's won't touch. When C. Bannister, the man who helped develop Zoe chip technology, passes away, Alan is entrusted with the job of creating his rememory, which get played at funerals and can even be viewed on luxury tombstones. Bannister's Zoe chip has been tied up in court while his family sues his company for the right to it. As soon as Alan accepts the job, he finds himself in grave danger when a rival cutter, Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), who may or may not be involved with an anti-technology group, shows up demanding the footage. Fletcher believes there may be something within the chip that could discredit the company. The film takes place in the future and there are picket lines filled with tatooed people who say the chip's technology comes at a cost- the modification of human behavior once the host discovers he/she is being filmed throughout their lives, as well as how other people act in front of those they know are implanted with the chip.
Are you still following me? If you aren't, don't bother. This movie sucks. It looks cool but there is hardly any suspense and no characters who we care about. Mira Sorvino continues her landslide after winning a Best Supporting Actress statue for Mighty Aphrodite. She pops up in a handful of scenes as a love interest who Alan has had his eye on for some time. Even in a science-fiction film, the idea that Sorvino would shack up with Williams is ludicrous. You can't just slap two award-winning actors together and expect the sparks to fly. The man isn't even funny in this, and besides, we know that personality only gets a guy so far. Her character, whatshername?, has absolutely nothing to do and Sorvino looks appropriately bored, so who can blame her? The film feels like it has been sitting on a shelf somewhere, because there is no way Caviezel would follow hiw breakout role as Jesus with this and Highwaymen. Fletcher is as close to an antagonist as the film gets but my mom with PMS is more threatening. He monotones his way through the movie and is seriously slumming. Fletcher also employs a meaner-looking, more quiet bad guy whose character is never explained, and we have no idea exactly who these two guys represent. The rest of the supporting cast is equally forgettable but I suppose you could call recent NYU-grad Thom Bishop a bright spot in an otherwise dismal film.
After impressive turns against type in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, Williams is left bumbling and mumbling, keeping Alan shrouded in mystery, when what the audience really needs is some clarity and insight to his character. The film borrows in moderation from Minority Report, but without that movie's big budget, big star, and a little guy named Spielberg, it merely comes off as a cheap imitation with no thrills and an ending that feels impotent. The production design by James Chinlund and Naim's direction show promise, but the director would be better served shooting someone else's script next time. With so many plot holes, The Final Cut could use a trip back to the editing room so that its audience could make some sense of the proceedings. You know, there are so many good movies out this fall, if you don't have the time or money to see them all, then I'd CUT this one from your list.
Ouch. Anyone else had a chance to see this one yet? I’m very curious to see if someone’s got a different point of view on this, although I do find it curious that a Robin Williams film is being shown exclusively on digital screens at AMC Theaters. Seems like a sign that Lions Gate is cutting their losses on it. Still... I’m curious...
"Moriarty" out.
