Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

THE FINAL CUT


THE FINAL CUT (2004). Written and directed by Omar Naim.

In a futuristic world, certain people have "Zoe" organic implants which are undetectable and grow in the brain and nerve centers, recording -- filming -- everything that happens to them throughout their entire life. Alan Hakman (Robin Williams) is a famous "cutter," someone who takes the hours and hours of recordings of a certain person's life and edits it into a memorial film that is shown after their death. Hakman is haunted by something that happened in his childhood, and now he is being asked to "cut" the life of a married man who may have had some terrible secrets concerning his daughter. The Final Cut has a fascinating premise and a superlative performance by the wonderful Williams, but despite its many intriguing ideas, it seems contrived and awfully anti-climactic. Still, it gets points for originality and is certainly absorbing. Stephanie Romanov and Genevieve Buechner score as the wife and daughter of the deceased.

Verdict: Decidedly different and thought-provoking if ultimately unsatisfying. ***.

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