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Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, James Caviezel

Set in a world with memory implants, Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.

Flixster Users

50% liked it

23,147 ratings

Critics

38% liked it

74 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Omar Naim

Release Date: October 15, 2004

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DVD Release Date: March 22, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (1,004)

  • kiriyamakazou
    September 15, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    The Final Cut is more than just a thriller. It offers a fascinating premise and works on it in an excellent manner. We are shown the damage such "recorded memories" can have but also the peace they can bring to loved ones. Williams centers the film around his fabulously detached ...( read more)performance. He's a man who has lived all his life with the guilt of his own memories as well as spending the majority of his adult life experiencing the lives of others. Opposite WIlliams we have Caviezel who again does an outstanding job as a supposed "villain" with more morals than that of our hero. All points of view are clearly expressed which makes for a wonderfully thought provoking piece of entertainment. Unfortunately not all avenues are explored to their full extent. This would have made one hell of a TV show which could have chronicled Cutting and Rememories from their initial inception. The film is rather complex and doesn't give us an easy answer to the questions it raises. Unfortunately now I just want to know more about the world in which the film is set. For once here's hoping for a remake or TV show in a few decades to further explore a wonderful idea.
  • crackingdanio
    June 5, 2008
    crackingdanio
    I avoided this film for the longest time because Robin Williams is the lead character,even after viewing I'm still of the same opinion; if a different actor had been cast who knows maybe alot more people would want to see it too. The basic premise of the film is what if when you ...( read more)die instead of people remembering you at your wake, you're own personal memories are shown, throughtout your life your memories have been recorded. Williams plays a cutter a third person party assigned to edit peoples memories after their death, drop the bad, leave the good, a family member could not be trusted with such a precious commodity, secrets , crimes and such ruining a persons reputation hence a cutter like Williams is assigned. Great premise for a film or what, it opens some great ethicla debates which are only dealed with to a certain extent. Enjoyable enough fiilm and even though I don't personally like Williams as an actor he does good here, my other fault just watch it, the ending abrupt or what
  • pier007
    February 8, 2008
    pier007
    Pointless and clichéd sci-fi thriller.
  • puffchunk
    October 25, 2007
    puffchunk
    Pretty neat story. I think it's a bit unlikely that someone can make a career viewing an entire life and edit a movie, especially more than one life (like lots of them). You know, there's this problem with your life not being hundreds upon hundreds of years long. Other than th...( read more)at little flaw, it was neat.
  • wellmeetagain
    August 21, 2007
    wellmeetagain
    liked this one, more than most it seems.
  • 21rclemente
    November 20, 2009
    21rclemente
    Innovative. Why did Williams go on his sci-fi kick? mid-life crisis?
  • aswinwilliam
    November 14, 2009
    aswinwilliam
    This was a very good sci-fi thriller. There are good points and points with memory implants technology which playing God. Intimidating well believable in the future but it will be hard to do. Interesting enough of how a guy with a laptop and clipboard editing a person's recorded ...( read more)memory. Good performance by Robin Williams.
  • Nenebelle
    November 14, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Recommended by WitchfulThinking.
  • WitchfulThinking
    November 14, 2009
    WitchfulThinking

    ...( read more)v style="width:280px;">

    THE FINAL CUT (2004)

    WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Omar Naim.

    FEATURING: Robin Williams, Brendan Fletcher, and Stephanie Romanov.

    PLOT: Robin Williams plays a funeral director with access to highly intimate personal information. When he becomes compromised, so does the information, raising questions about the consequences of a total surveillance society.

    The Final Cut is a slick, believable, striking science fiction film which has been mischaracterized and very poorly represented in its trailers and marketing. Without a social agenda it forces the viewer to contemplate the frightful ramifications of the permanent recording of individual experiences and the loss of the most intimate personal privacy. The Final Cut does so in a manner that is not a play to morality but which is riveting and awe-inspiring without being preachy. It brings the old school marm's threats about one's "permanent record" to a devastating new level.

    COMMENTS: We live in a near total surveillance society. The average person is allegedly photographed 200-300 times by government and proprietary cameras when they venture into the streets. Additionally, many people now posses, and surreptitiously use such devices as unobtrusive cell phone cameras, tiny digital cameras, and concealed "Nannie cams."

    Imagine a world in which one in twenty people would possess a biologically built-in surveillance system that records everything they see and hear from cradle to grave, irrespective of their memory of the events. Any interaction one has with them becomes permanently preserved.

    When the carrier dies, the surveillance device is retrieved. Everything is seen by a third party, and the information is edited into a flattering epitaph to be shown at their funeral. It may even be displayed in a movie on their grave site. Consider what might become of the rest of the information.

    The technology is far fetched, but the idea is not when one takes into account behavior such as all of the self reporting that people engage in. It ranges from voluntarily reporting their income, itemizing their possessions and other personal or family information on product warranty cards, to recording and internationally broadcasting their every move on services such as Twitter.

    Think about the fact that under The Patriot Act, every book you read can be discovered by the government, every move you make on the internet is now recorded by the FBI, and every phone call you participate in can be monitored without a warrant. Most people seem to be oblivious to, or complacent regarding such monitoring. They have an attitude that "if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to worry about." (Answer them by asking them to look through their wallet or purse. It is enlightening that they universally decline.) Because of this acceptance it is not a stretch to foresee the institutionalization of even more invasive monitoring when technology makes it feasible.

    Now imagine that your parents, perhaps without you ever knowing it, had a surveillance implant embedded in your brain, invitro. You will never be able to take advantage of using it to retrieve lost memories, but everything you do, every second that you experience of every minute of every day will be accessible to others after your death. Think about that. Have you ever done something, or ever had a private moment that you don't want to share? Is there any moment in your life that you would not want to see broadcast on MTV's "The Real World?"

    Do you masturbate? Wish not to be observed having sex? Do anything kinky? Want others to see you on the toilet? Have you ever broken rules? Embarrassed yourself? Ever used illegal drugs? Cheated on a test? Blown off your duties at work? Swindled a client? Gone where you shouldn't have? Cheated on your spouse? Committed an embarrassing, or taboo act? Have you ever committed a serious crime? Have you ever done something that was legally justified but that could be misconstrued out of context as a crime? Might you one day?

    The ramifications of a stranger being able to watch these private moments is what The Final Cut is about. In the not so distant future, a Zoe (pronounced "Zoey") implant makes total life event recording possible. Robin Williams plays a "Cutter," a funerary professional with supreme confidentiality obligations, who sorts out the unbecoming and damning details of implanted people's lives and edits them into a flattering, family-friendly movie. This enables the friends and loved ones of the deceased to view the production at the implantee's funeral in the way that they want to remember the person.

    Suppose the cutter became compromised, or the information fell into the wrong hands. Suppose that somebody you know, with whom you had interactions of a type that you never want discovered, had such an implant and the postmortem information was misappropriated?

    The trailers and reviews for The Final Cut simply do not do the film justice. They lead the potential viewer to conclude that the film is a reprise of Robin Williams' One Hour Photo role. Worse yet, they make The Cutter look like a movie with a message, or like a morality play. One description reads, "While cutting a 'rememory' for a high-powered colleague, Alan discovers an image from his childhood that has haunted him his entire life. This discovery leads him on a high intensity search for truth and redemption." True, this is an element of the film, but a corny "one man's 'search for truth and redemption,'" is not what Final Cut is about. If it were, I would have gagged and converted the DVD into a Girl Scout signal mirror after the first five minutes.

    Williams plays a cutter who gets into trouble while dealing with a very naughty and controversial client's memories. This incident is a vehicle used to further the "what if?" factor off the surveillance concept described above. The Final Cut examines a simple scenario involving a mind boggling idea, one that would surely be instituted now if feasible. This is a movie that makes one's mind race with ideas and questions. It compels one to contemplate the double edged sword of the surveillance society we live in today, yet it is not a film with an agenda. The film is inspired by an already existing phenomenon, but does not seek to deliberately comment on it.

    The Final Cut is also a gripping, compelling movie because of the way its imaginative imagery portrays the access and use of other people's life memories from birth to death. The production design is stunning. While not lavish, it is very well thought-out and credibly suited to the topic, as well as pleasing to the eye.

    In , what seems to be far fetched technology is treated with remarkable realism. While it is science fiction, it is very believable. The Final Cut is in my opinion, an example of the best sort of science fiction, No change in the current status quo is required to facilitate the plot, other than the introduction of new technology.

    The world in Final Cut is no different from today's except for the ramifications created by this one technological twist. This makes it a very heavy film that will leave a lasting impression long after viewing it. Perhaps you will remember it all of your life. Maybe a third party will one day view that memory.
  • sleepykiss
    November 13, 2009
    sleepykiss
    Better than most new sci fis. Could have done with a less generic title, more of an R rated story & a more climactic ending tho. Watch with ONE HOUR PHOTO for a RWilliams nite.

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Critic Reviews

October 15, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Williams has extraordinary success in channeling this other person. How strange that the same actor can play some of the most uninhibited of all characters, and some of the most morose. full review

October 15, 2004
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The concept of The Final Cut is so fascinating and has so many implications that it balances out some real flaws in the story. full review

October 15, 2004
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Williams gives a performance that's honest and carefully wrought but on some level still a stunt. full review

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The Final Cut Trivia

  • Brandon Lee's death can be seen in the final cut of The Crow  Answer »
  • The scene in which Brandon Lee was fatally wounded was left in the final cut of The Crow.  Answer »
  • Which movie has Nicholas Cage NOT starred in?  Answer »
  • Robin Williams played an editor of movies composed from people's memories in what movie?  Answer »
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