Finestkind

Movie Review

Finestkind was recently released on Paramount+ after languishing in production hell for years. Brian Helgeland apparently wrote the script back in 1995, and at one point even had Heath Ledger attached. I bring this up because it truly does feel like a 90s crime movie at its core.

Paramount has built something of a brand out of appealing to fly-over America, led mostly by the indomitable Taylor Sheridan. Sheridan gets a producing credit, and it certainly feels like one of his projects. While Brian Helgeland, probably best known for the criminally underrated Payback, directs.

Side note: Is the John Wick/Nobody franchise a massive love letter to Payback? After a recent rewatch, it seemed hard to deny the influence.

This movie falls squarely in the territory of Hell or High Water as far as being a blue-collar crime romp. Other comparisons would be Out of the Furnace, Mud, and Arkansas. If you are a fan of the genre, then this movie won’t disappoint.

The Critics

It has a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes (always a good sign if the critics hated it). But still, even though I know better, I was a bit confused that it was still so low, even if it is the current year. One would think that the audience score would reflect better, and it sort of did, but it still only got a 65%. My best guess is that the quiet release and Paramount paywall significantly limited its reach.

The Cast

Ben Foster kills it as Tom Eldridge, who by the way, should be nominated for the most “under-appreciated actor award” if such a thing existed. Toby Wallace does an admirable job playing Tom’s brother, Charlie, and strikes just the right chord of charismatic and goofy. Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly cast as the grumpy but noble, Mr. Eldridge (father to Tom but not Charlie). Jenna Ortega left a little bit to be desired as Mabel, Charlie’s love interest. At times, she felt like a good casting choice, and at others she seemed… off—her scenes a bit too angsty and a little cringe. Take a swig everytime she awkwardly calls Charlie “white boy.” The writers knew what they were doing with her character, it’s just not clear that she did. Maybe this is on the director. I don’t know. If this was made in the 90s, it’s easy to picture this role going to Penelope Cruz.

Take it or Leave it…

I found it to be a pretty good, even refreshing movie, that indeed felt like the product of a different time.

Toby and Charlie are half brothers who find each other in adulthood. This resonated with me deeply as I had a similar experience with my brothers. I was the oldest, and moved out and away from the house almost 7 years ahead them. Throw in the military, and you have a recipe for drifting apart. But when they grew up, and I came back, it was like reuniting with two lifelong best friends. Much is the same between Toby and Charlie.

The first half of the movie follows this relationship in a sort of “dudes are awesome” extended montage as Charlie learns how to fish with Tom’s crew. Also introduced is the fact that Charlie has been accepted to Boston University’s legal program, and loathes the idea of spending his life trapped under fluorescents (much to his own father’s chagrin, who is an accomplished lawyer).

Charlie aches for adventure, telling crude jokes, and work beneath the sun. It’s a movie with an actual first act, which is to be applauded when so much of modern movie magic skips straight to the shooting and never lets up. A proper first act builds investment in the characters, and makes room for proper emotional beats that get paid off later. Something Finestkind executes perfectly. How Hollywood forgot this, or why, I’m not sure, but this does indeed feel like a movie written over two decades ago.

It also perfectly captures the beautiful retardation that is a 20s something dude working with other dudes, trying to find his place in life, and chasing around a pile of red flags. The camaraderie, the hazing, the making chimp noises while doing manual labor, it’s all there in glorious Technicolor™.

All this is a vital part of becoming a man, and highly relateable to anyone who’s worked in mostly male dominated environments. As far as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs goes, it might as well be the base of the pyramid for that time in a man’s life (yes, I am aware self-ackshuallyization is the peak). But this camradrie and brotherhood, really is important, vital, to a boy becoming a man. It’s why the elimination and invasion of male only spaces is downright criminal. We love you ladies, but seriously, you kill the vibe. It’s not even fully your fault. Dudes start acting like fools when you are around with all the simping and competing. Want an 80/20 type of fix for young men’s mental health, it’s not hard, just make male only spaces a priority. You want to stop veterans from killing themselves? Well, maybe instead of doing 22 pushups like a dork, don’t demonize and invade male only spaces. Maybe, you know, promote and invest in them.

Regardless, when Tom and company are caught fishing the Canadian side of the line, the Finestkind (Mr. Eldridge’s boat) is seized and impounded by the Coast Guard for illegal fishing. This is when the movie really kicks into high gear, and we trade an aspirational slice-of-life montage, for a trip on the Train of Dread. In order to pay the court fines and get the boat back, Tom and crew are forced to take drastic action that puts them on the outs with a local drug syndicate. From here on out the plot is primarily driven by the characters and their flaws, which are ironically, also their strengths. They are blue collar every-men, who are too proud to ask for help, and who solve their own problems. And while their actions may seem stupid to those that exist outside such an honor culture, they make perfect sense to them. I won’t give too much more of the plot away, as I don’t want to ruin anything.

Overall, the movie is good. It pulls off some truly emotional beats, and ties it all up with a satisfying ending. The through line for the entire movie is the often rocky relationships men have with their fathers, and subsequently themselves, and it manages to say something profound and uplifting about it all. It’s also a wonderful characterization of brotherhoods, male friendship, and their importance. It was the first time in a while I have actually cared about characters in a movie. I think you should try to see it.