The Final Cut (DVD, 2005)

Robin Williams, once again, demonstrates his wide range of acting ability. Williams makes a movie, whether comedic or eerie to the point of chills, he enthralls his audience. In this Sci-fi, parents can have a microchip implanted in their unborn child to record the entire child's life from birth until death. The parents are advised to make the offspring aware of his or her implanted microchip at age 21. Naturally, there are many problems that can arise with that premise. How would one react knowing all of life's privacy would or could be exposed after one's death? Would it change a person? Would it devastate a person? What if a person did not receive that knowledge at 21? The ideal good that could come from this would be to help someone revisit a past experience to heal a past pain or to prove innocence or guilt in a crime. Unfortunately, viewing the microchip while a person is alive can destroy the mind. As with all new "advancements" new careers open. Hence, the cutter appears. It is the cutter's job, to view the entire life of the deceased person's microchip..to create a rememory. The cutter deletes all from the life of the deceased person that would blacken his name. Then, the memorial service is held, where family and friends view the good from a person's life. The movie begins with Robin Williams, as a child, in the horrible experience that forever changed his own life. That tragedy drew him to become a cutter in his adulthood in order to cut the worst out of people's lives. The morality issue springs up here..is a cutter playing God? Demonstraters form to object to the cutters, but this issue is best felt through the eyes of the young girl, that suffered the abuse at the hands of her about to be glorified father. At this point in the movie, the irony, from many directions takes place. To say more would ruin the viewing of the movie for you. I noticed that several people felt there were too many slow points in this movie or it could have been built upon better. My opinion differs here..for me, it gave more time to feel the characters in their perspective roles and to imagine what all could result. It built the suspense for me and the ending was all the more shocking and profound. Robin did a beautiful job.

Williams plays the character of a "cutter" who arranges a movie of a person's life recorded on microchip to be replayed at their funeral. His choice of career made by a painful memory in his own life he wanted to erase. Can we change who we are by erasing the memories we don't like? Forgiving them perhaps? Robin Williams shows a virtuoso performance in this sci-fi thriller. But you must pay attention especially at the end I have seen the movie three times and still do not get it's ending. Now, I am sure lots of you would enjoy this film, if you understand it, it is a great film but please if you do not like it watch it again cause the first time I watched it I was like man this movie is terrible it went from a poor grade to an average grade, it is a movie you have to watch more than onece folks.

I was fascinated by the idea of white washing the lives of defunct people. There is a Latin saying that says: "De mortibus nihil nisi bene," which means: "Nothing but good about the dead." This movie takes this saying very literally. I loved the acting of Robin Williams and the other actors. Besides, the movie had many surprises to me. I never thought Williams would have an implant and never thought he would be murdered in the end.
I've already watched "The Final Cut" three times!

I bought this to use in a course I'm teaching on the rhetoric of remembrance. The film introduces and explores profound questions about the social and individual nature of memory. It provides my students with an opportunity to consider these ideas from another perspective. Nicely done.

Cool I love the dead at least about the dead Robin Williams is the best, maybe he loves the dead also. So this is my review in order to get this off of my won board