TIFF 2023 | Movie Review: "Finestkind"; A TV Movie Featuring An Overqualified Cast
6/12 ForReel Score | 2.5/5 Stars
The A-List cast of Finestkind alone is enough to make this film a top priority in its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Jenna Ortega (Scream VI), Ben Foster (Leave No Trace), Tommy Lee Jones (starring in another TIFF selected film The Burial), and in the lead, Toby Wallace (Babyteeth, with a presence in two other festival films this season, The Royal Hotel and The Bikeriders), and delving into the family drama and crime thriller genres, Finestkind has many of the pieces to be a great film.
But what appears to be a promising production ultimately boils down to an underbaked narrative with glimmers of greatness, mostly thanks to this top notch cast.
Image courtesy of TIFF
In Finestkind, Charlie, played by Wallace, desperately wants to join a crew of fishermen led by his brother Tom, played by Foster, the summer after college. Despite Tom’s reluctance and Charlie’s father’s stern disapproval, the crew of the ship they call Finestkind take him in. But when Canadian law enforcement catches them fishing in international waters, the consequences force Charlie and Tom to make riskier decisions than they can manage, landing them, their crew, and their loved ones in hot water.
The themes of the film are admirable ingredients to the purpose of this production. There is a core theme of the complexities of father-son relationships that manifest itself in more ways than one as Charlie quarrels with his father (Dennis Sykes) over his future and Tom’s relationship with his father (Tommy Lee Jones) is tied to the Finestkind vessel. The narrative also invests heavily into the value of brotherhood - both literal as Charlie and Tom try to find common ground, and fraternal between the men of the crew who are superb at demonstrating a bond between themselves.
However, poor story management and slow pacing are the problems that sink this ship. In the process of familiarizing audiences with the setting, the characters, and the series of events that never fully develop their own gravity, Finestkind meanders its way to the ultimate conflict, where Clayne Crawford’s portrayal as the menacing drug dealer, Pete, eventually changes the game.
It is in this latter part of the film with a true villain materialized that Finestkind establishes a gritty tone worth perking up for. Pete’s presence (fueled by Crawford’s undeniably strong performance) shifts the paradigm of Finestkind from its ho-hum, low stakes nature into another gear, and much of the cast - Ortega, Foster, and Jones especially - all lean into it, delivering the gripping sequences one might expect from an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller.
But when the film finds resolution to its external conflict, the narrative drops back down into its former, unimpressive form - like flipping a light switch on and back off again. And even with a bloated two hour and six minute runtime, the conclusion still has to resort to rushed and uninspired stopping points for many of the characters’ plights. When the credits roll, it’s clear the value of this film’s components are much greater than the film itself as a whole.
Acting/Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer’s Preference - 0 | What does this mean?