Tom Hanks doesn’t need a human or even a
sentient acting partner to make a film or a scene
sing. Think Wilson the volleyball, Hooch and
even that laptop from “You’ve Got Mail.” So it’s
not at all surprising if he’s the first guy on the list
for your post-apocalyptic film about a man, a
robot and a dog.
Even less surprising is that Hanks delivers in “
Finch,” playing a robotics engineer who is dying
from radiation exposure and desperately trying
to make sure his dog will be taken care of when
he’s gone. It’s the kind of premise that’s been
designed to pull at your heartstrings. Dying Tom
Hanks and a cute pup? It’s impossible to resist.
And yet somehow it doesn’t work as the epic it
would like to be.
The story started out as a 20-page short about a
man who builds a robot to replace him as a dog’s