Review of Final

Final (2001)
4/10
Almost like watching paint dry ...
16 August 2007
... but better - thanks to great character acting from Davis and Leary. However, the movie is just too long for what it delivers: a 2 hour, 2 person talk-fest in which nothing really happens.

This story involves a man who wakes up in a psychiatric ward / hospital and thinks it's the future and that he's going to be given a (final) lethal injection. The entire movie is basically about his interaction with his doctor in the patient room and hospital yard.

The only saving grace of this movie is the strong acting performances by both Leary and Davis. Leary is very dynamic and energetic (it's actually very impressive) and Davis does outstanding counterplay as his restrained, even-toned psychiatrist.

This makes them interesting to watch - to listen to. The memory flashbacks also help break up the dialog.

However, almost NOTHING happens in this movie - it's huge talk-fest and the story could have been shrunk to 30 or 40 minutes max. If it weren't for the quality of acting (which induced me to think the movie may get better), I would have quit watching early on. In the final analysis, I also realized that I didn't even get anything out of the great performances beyond recognizing the skill of actors.

If you're a Denis Leary or Hope Davis fan, you'll probably enjoy watching them act. For the average movie-goer, see something else.
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