Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)January 7th, 2002
"Final"
A man (Denis Leary) finds himself as an inmate at a mental hospital. He has no memory of his past and only fleeting glimpses of the time he was found in a gravel quarry, hypothermic and bleeding by the side of a vintage 1953 Ford F-100 pickup truck. Institutional psychiatrist Ann Johnson (Hope Davis) is assigned his case and she must delve into his amnesiac mind in Campbell Scott's directorial debut, "Final."
For fully one hour and 20 minutes "Final" is little more than a bunch of psycho babble between Leary's Bill Scott and Dr. Anne. You are left, during this extended sequence, to decide what is sanity and insanity; what is the truth about Bill; what happened before the gravel pit; and, not much else besides Bill moving between ranting and being withdrawn. Then, the surprise twist is unleashed and we are dumped into a futuristic tale of government conspiracy, epidemics and cryogenics.
I was, to say the least, less than thrilled with the unbalanced machinations of "Final." Helmer Scott is apparently enamored with the surprise finales of such films as "The Sixth Sense" and "The Others" and tries to duplicate the startling twists these other films so nicely handled. But, in this case, the director does not have the deft turn of hand to keep us interested until he is ready to spring the stunner on us.
I make it a rule to never walk out on a film but the first hour plus of "Final" nearly drove me to break my own rule. The inventive, conspiracy-laden ending makes me not regret playing by my rules, but it is all too little too late and not enough to save the film. I give it a C-.
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
More on 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
