The Final Cut

The Final Cut - ***1/2

Starring:  Robin Williams, John Caviezel, Mira Sorvino

Review:  This came highly recommended by a good friend and I can definitively say I was not disappointed.  This movie takes an extremely original premise and executes it very well.

The movie centers around the Robin Williams character who is a "cutter."  What is a "cutter?"  Well in this near future society a company has developed something called the "Zoe implant."  This implant is inserted into the brain of a baby whilst still in it's mothers womb.  The implant serves to record every single image someone sees in their lifetime.  It is the cutter's responsibility to take all of these images and turn them into a movie of this person's life that usually runs less than 2 hours.  The cutter will take requests from family members that want certain events in the movie.

Now this obviously presents an issue because there are many things people say and do in their private lives that don't show up in their "public" lives that cutter's would then have access to see.  Every nitty, gritty, disgusting detail of any deplorable act anybody has ever done is there to be seen.  This is why it is necessary for there to be a "Cutter's Code" which basically says that cutters are not allowed to discuss or publicize anything they see about a person's life.  Think of it as the ultimate attorney-client privilege relationship.  This brings up an interesting scenario, imagine if there was a horrendous murder in which the killer was never caught, and the cutter learns one of their newest clients was the killer.  Wouldn't it be the responsibility of the cutter to make this known?  Wouldn't it be better to give a sense of closure to the whole thing?  But that is an aside.

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The movie really takes off when Robin Williams' character gets a new assignment.  This assignment was originally given to a different female cutter; however, she was not able to stomach completing the task.  Unable to do so, she turns the project over to Robin Willams (his character's name escapes me at the moment) to finish it up.  Turns out this project is for the Zoe implant company's lawyer, who as it turns out, may have a thing or two to hide.  There are people who are against the Zoe implant, led by ex-cutter Jim Caviezel, who would like to expose these secrets in an attempt to destroy the corporation and thereby destroy the Zoe implant. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  The plot was one of the most original I have seen in a long time and it is quite amazing I hadn't heard about this movie until my friend mentioned it to me.  This future as presented is about as realistic as I would imagine if there were a Zoe implant invented.  Some people would love it and embrace it while others would be horribly against it stating that peoples memories are theirs and theirs alone.  These people would also contend that memories take on a life of them own and often if you look back, the memory is not quite what you thought it was.  There is even a scene that details this scenario in the movie. 

Everyone involved gives great performances.  Robin Williams gives a phenomenal performance and between movies like this and "Worlds Greatest Dad" it is amazing Williams isnt revered more for his talent.  His role is understated and played to perfection.  His character Alan is haunted by memories of his own past and is constantly at conflict with his memories and the fact that he organizes other peoples memories into a neat little box so everyone can only remember the good parts of their lives.  All this is done, but most people are equally haunted by their bad memories just as they are comforted by their good ones.  Alan has a bad memory of his own that haunts him and this is where his struggle is most apparent.  His internal struggle is on display to a great extent throughout the whole movie.  Mira Sorvino and Jim Caviezel both play great supporting roles as well.

As aforementioned this movie was very original and it was written and directed very well.  The only problem I had was with the ending.  It seemed to end to abruptly and left a few loose ends that I feel could have been tied up.  However, this is a minor gripe compared to the rest of the movie which was very enjoyable and definitely worth your time.