The Final Cut

2004 Sci Fi

First-time filmmaker Omar Naim wrote and directed the sci-fi drama The Final Cut. Set in the near future, the story concerns a device implanted in the body that is capable of recording a person's entire life. Once it is extracted from the body after death, the footage can be played back on a screen in the form of "rememories." Robin Williams plays Alan Hakman, an editor who cuts together the footage to make pleasant movies for funerals. Tormented by his job and his own memories, Alan also has a troubled romantic relationship with bookseller Delila (Mira Sorvino). While looking through footage for his next project, Alan discovers a man whom he believes is from his own past. Meanwhile, former editor Fletcher (James Caviezel) wants the footage for his own purposes. The Final Cut was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004.

Director: Omar Naim

Starring: Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel, Mimi Kuzyk, Stephanie Romanov

Reviews

  • Williams has extraordinary success in channeling this other person.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 April 2013

  • So fascinating and has so many implications that it balances out some real flaws in the story.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    27 April 2013

  • It's a thoughtful, multi-layered film that falls a bit short of its goals on all fronts. Fans of intellectually challenging science fiction and/or Robin Williams will make up most of its market.

    Lawrence Toppman - Charlotte Observer

    27 April 2013

  • Quiet and sleepy.

    - Entertainment Weekly

    27 April 2013

  • Williams gives a performance that's honest and carefully wrought but on some level still a stunt. All that courtliness is wearing him out, and it's wearing us out too.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    27 April 2013

Awards

  • Omar Naim

    Berlin International Film Festival (2004)

     
  • Omar Naim

    Deauville Film Festival (2004)

  • Omar Naim

    Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival (2004)