OK, first things first - original this isn't. It is an amalgam of many road trip and robot movies that we have all seen many times before. That said, it is maybe the first actual robot road movie I think I have ever seen, and Tom Hanks and his metallic sidekick "Jeff" - along with their dog, make quite an entertaining fist of it. The world has been exposed to massive radiation and he appears to be the sole survivor. With an incredible storm approaching his home, he constructs his new friend and the three make for San Francisco in his heavily adapted motorhome. It's a well paced affair, this, and Hanks (who is definitely not my favourite actor) turns in quite an engaging performance as gradually he and "Jeff" begin to learn from each other - for better or worse. There is the sparing use of flashback to give us an indication of what happened to his family, and of how he ended up in his predicament, and as their journey progresses the film offers us a perspective on just what being "human" might mean as he gradually realises that all is not well. It is probably twenty minutes too long, the establishment scenes are unnecessarily extensive but, though not a great film, Tom Hanks invests just enough to keep it in the right gear most of the time.

Finch is a great sci-fi drama that's got genuine moments of warmth and sadness, even if it is exploring a very familiar narrative and themes. Tom Hanks gives an incredible lead performance and has strong chemistry with Caleb Landry Jones, whose earnest naivety never gets annoying. Miguel Sapochnick's direction is great, there's some beautiful shots throughout and it's effectively slow paced. The CG and special effects are genuinely impressive. The soundtrack is fantastic and really adds to the warmth of the film.

This is exactly the kind of movie I do enjoy watching. Post-apocalyptic scenes, it makes you think about the future. In the case of Finch it's quite simple, no Mad Max action scenes but a simple story with only one actor, Tom Hanks, if you don't count the voice of the robot and the lovely dog Goodyear. Like in Cast Away Tom Hanks carries this movie like nobody else can. One actor only doens't mean bad movie and he shows us that. Quite a long movie but never boring, with good existencial conversations between Tom Hanks and his robot. The dog, what is he cute, adds something sweet and emotional to the story. In other words I liked it a lot and I'm not surprised others will like this one as well.