The Final Cut

It has been said before, many times, but bears repeating, owing to the weight of the burden of the significance it carries: Comedy is hard to do. Good comedy, more so. And when one adds a genuine comedic talent to this particular equation, be prepared to bear witness to something nothing less than a miracle, for what you are experiencing is acting talent at its finest.

And when you are done with this event take a moment, please, and consider what you just saw, for what you just saw, no doubt, was diametric and antithetical brilliance: Therein is the rub: More often than not, for an actor to be publically funny he must first be privately tormented and sad internally. A horror, indeed, but one that goes to manifest itself in genius.

Take as example of same one Robin Williams, who made a name for himself by way of his undeniable comedic talent, abilities, and skills. And just when it seemed certain he would make a life for himself in this particular arena he surprised and offended (some, at least) by taking on roles that bore no resemblance to anything he had done previously: Mrs. Doubtfire, Aladdin's Genie, the lead in the cinematic adaptation of Saul Bellow's novel "Seize the Day", the lead in "The Secret Agent", the lead in "Insomnia", where he played a killer who forgave himself his sins, the lead in "One Hour Photo", where he again led by playing a loner who lived vicariously throught the captured images of others, and now, the lead, once more, in Omar Naim's "The Final Cut", as a man who edits memories of others for a price for all involved.

Watch Williams in this particular role and wonder how he can do such things, how he can take on such roles, and the answer quickly becomes apparent: He merely being himself: The comedian as tragic figure.

In "The Final Cut", a determined science fiction drama, Williams plays Alan Hakman, a Cutter, a man who edits and collects memories of others, reorders them, and makes them into a two-hour long video called a 'Rememory', for friends and family to watch and presumably cherish.

Of course, in such a role, a Cutter sees all, and likely knows all: Every sin, every lie, every secret. He does so by way of an implant called a 'Zoe'.

Why? Because, he says, he took the job out of respect for the living.

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