Since winning an Oscar for “Good Will Hunting” in 1997, Robin Williams has charted a curious path. With big roles in small dramatic films (“One Hour Photo”), small roles in bigger films (“Insomnia”), a Holocaust picture (“Jakob the Liar”) and two sentimental epics (“Patch Adams” and “Bicentennial Man”), he’s gravitated toward heavy, thoughtful material.
Although he reportedly still kills on the comedy circuit, the only Williams comedy of recent vintage was “Death to Smoochy,” which arrived D.O.A. at the box office.
With all that in mind, “Final Cut” is a strange choice for Robin Williams. It’s another somber, small-scale picture, with no laughs for this gifted comedian.
“Final Cut” is a companion piece to “One Hour Photo.” Again Williams plays an uptight, throttled man who experiences life through the photographs of other people – in this case, “videos” of people’s memories, culled after the person has died.
It seems a chip can be implanted in the brain, in childhood, to record everything a person sees in life. The obviously named Alan Hakman (Williams) is a cutter, a sort of video editor/funeral director, a man who sifts through the videos and prepares a “rememory,” a version of the deceased’s life that can be played at funeral services and saved for all time.
Hakman whitewashes the memories of people who had plenty to hide. As he prepares the rememory of a man who abused his child, Hakman’s usual detachment and equilibrium are tested.
The cast includes a blond Mira Sorvino, in a truly thankless role as Hakman’s librarian girlfriend, and Jim Caviezel (“Passion of the Christ”), in a small part as an ex-cutter who now protests against the implants. They’re not characters, just ideas.
Let’s think about this. Fifty, 60, 70 years of a person’s life? Every second, recorded? Even imagining that you could filter out sleeping and other mundane periods, how could an editor possibly get through the raw material?
Also, the implant apparently is of no use to the person carrying it around, who may not even be aware of its existence in his head. If producing a 20-minute video for a funeral is the only point, it seems like an awful lot of trouble.
This story is shadowed by a prologue, depicting an incident from Hakman’s childhood. As a boy he watched another kid die, and blamed himself for it.
That’s the back story of Hakman’s anxious life, but by the time it circles around to affect his adult existence, the film had lost me. First-time director Omar Naim has made a movie that must have looked good on paper, but suffers badly when played out on screen.
Robin Williams stars in “Final Cut.”
“Final Cut” H
Forget it: Robin Williams, in another laughless role, plays an editor of people’s memories, an uptight guy who is beginning to come apart. The premise doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny, and the characters are stick figures.
Rated: PG-13 rating is for violence, subject matter.
Now showing: tk
“Final Cut” H
Forget it: Robin Williams, in another laughless role, plays an editor of people’s memories, an uptight guy who is beginning to come apart. The premise doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny, and the characters are stick figures.
Rated: PG-13 rating is for violence, subject matter.
Now showing: Pacific Place.
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