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The Final Cut
(2004)
Dir: Omar Naim
Why do people assume that films like The Day After Tomorrow and the Star Trek series are real SF*? I compare them to SF, like I compare Polly [SIC] Shore to comedy. Yes, there is science involved with the above films, and under certain influences Polly Shore is funny, but my question still remains: why do people assume that these films, which do not prophesize anything about where the technologically we have is taking us, are true SF? The Day After Tomorrow is just a natural disaster film with a lot of heart strings being plucked--which also resulted in a few vomit valves being opened during my viewing. And Star Trek is like the ultimate space opera, where we have a complete casts of regulars with the ability to do things like fall in love, hate, laugh and kill alien space-scum. Why do I bring this up? Why do I dare to threaten Star Trek when I know there are dedicated Trekkies out there that will probably hunt me down and zap me with a prop gun from the famous episode: “Where the hell did the monkeys get their guns from?” I bring this all up because I’ve just watched The Final Cut. Robin Williams, once again proving his undeniable acting ability, plays Alan Hackman, a Cutter. As proposed by the director Omar Naim, a Cutter is a person who ensembles a two hour film of someone’s life. The footage comes directly from what the person saw throughout his or her life, as seen through their eyes. In the future, parents will be able to choose to have an organic camera implanted in their child’s brain to collect their offspring’s life story. Once Alan receives the footage, he cuts out all the junk (sleeping, eating, shitting and other boring human behaviors), then edits out other human behaviors that the family would not want to remember about--like a man beating his wife or sleeping with his secretary. The family then gathers together at a Rememory, where everyone watches a persons life story, clean and clear of any moral ambiguities.
This is where I wish the film would have dwelled a little longer. What happens is that most of the film deals with Alan’s past, while his present life is where the real interesting story is. Think of it like this: a man is president of a tight organization, he has information in his head that, if seen by the wrong eyes, could destroy the organization. So people pressure the Cutter into giving up the footage for their cause. Yes this is an example from the film, and sadly, it’s treated as a side plot until the very end when it completely changes the flavor of the story. I’m sorry that Omar Naim used his script to focus on the past of a Cutter when he had such a great idea in front of him to work with, but I still view this as excellent SF. It takes an idea and presents it in an engaging realistic way. It avoids both pulling heart strings for no reason and putting in pointless alien scum bags. This film is almost like a journal on the future, it shows both sides, with out bias and it is up to us to decide in the end Right vs. Wrong.
*SF=Science Fiction
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