Review of Final Cut (1993) by Robert H — 16 Sep 2014

THE FINAL CUT is decently acted, but fails to do much with its interesting premise. Basically, in the near future people are able to get implants which record their entire lives. When they die, it is the job of cutters to edit their memories into a film that is shown at their funeral for the benefit of the loved ones they left behind.

Robin Williams plays Alan Hakman, one of these cutters. During one of his projects, he comes across a person that he remembers from his past, connected to one of his own troubling memories. He then sets out to find more about this person, all while being pursued/stalked by an anti-implant group who wants to get their hands on the implant he's working on.

My initial thoughts on watching this were that something seemed to be missing. It had a great concept (even though it's cobbled together from other, better sci-fi movies), a good cast and it was well-filmed.

Still, it only ever broached the moral and ethical questions brought up by this technology, rather than examining them in a meaningful way. Concept aside, this movie was just a bargain-basement thriller.

It would have benefited from a longer running time, to truly delve into the material. Instead it opts for a surface-only approach, which cheapens the experience considerably. As far as the world created by the film, I thought it was well-realized.

Even though it takes place in the near future, it really doesn't seem like it. Some of the imagery seemed like it would be at home in an H.G. Wells novel, with antique cars and computer systems upholstered with mahogany rather than industry plastic.

This served to give the movie a warm, familiar look rather than the cold futurism employed by many a sci-film these days. Even still, the overall sheen of the photography (likely added in post-production) was kind of drab in some spots and looked a little boring, particularly in the flashbacks and implant footage.

Performance-wise, Robin Williams and Jim Caviezel do decent work as the protagonist and primary antagonist, respectively. As Robin Williams' Alan is the central character, adequate attention is paid to him, but everyone else felt extremely under-developed.

This, of course, is due to the script more than anything else. Just to touch on a couple of other things, there are some logical errors in the film. For instance, it never really indicates how the implants are put into the subjects but apparently one person's implant included footage from their birth.

Maybe not a logical error, but it sure was odd. Also, there are three cutter rules spelled out at the beginning but their inclusion was largely unnecessary, save for a couple of brief plot points. Finally, the ending (to me, at least) was a little anti-climactic.

I won't spoil anything, but after seeing how things turned out I thought, "Really? That's the best they could come up with?" Still, when all was said and done, Robin Williams has done worse before.

Overall it's a watchable, but forgettable, sci-fi movie with some interesting ideas and nothing more.