| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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ONE OF FALL'S BEST!!
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Apr 16, 2006
6
of
7 people found this review helpful
You might suspect something amiss with a movie that's been sitting on the shelf for two years, but if you pass up "An Unfinished Life" (Miramax) you'll be missing one of 2005's best.
This is a totally captivating tale of forgiveness and rebirth in its story of an embittered Wyoming rancher named Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford), who takes care of ranch hand Mitch (Morgan Freeman), badly mauled by a bear.
Einar reluctantly gives shelter to his son's widow, Jean (Jennifer Lopez), who shows up unexpectedly with the 11-year-old granddaughter, Griff (Becca Gardner), he never knew he had. They are fleeing the abuse of Jean's violent boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis).
Written by Mark Spragg and Virginia Korus Spragg, the film features top-level acting all around, but with Redford outstanding. This is a career peak for him. He completely inhabits his ornery, grizzled man's-man character who -- after the death of his beloved son -- shuts himself down to life. His dialogue is liberally sprinkled with profanity, so you know he'll eventually soften under Griff's openhearted and liberating presence.
He's not particularly religious, insisting, for instance, that anyone who comes to his door be treated well, unless "it's some guy selling God," which he gruffly dismisses with an expletive. But in every other respect, he's an honorable man.
In addition to his ministrations to Mitch, he defends Nina (Camryn Manheim), the local diner's waitress, from the predations of three drunken louts.
Einar -- who talks to his son graveside every day -- blames Jean for his son's death (she had been driving, and lost control of the car).
Mitch -- another splendid Freeman portrayal -- spends most of his time in his shack, calling on Einar to give him morphine shots when the pain gets bad. The brotherly bond between the two men is admirable, and so profound that young Griff at one point mistakenly thinks they must be gay, much to their amusement.
Mitch's assailant plays a big part as the bear roams the town, causing great consternation. Einar wants to shoot him, but local sheriff Crane (Josh Lucas) stops him in the nick of time and sees to it that the bear is captured and put in the care of the local zoo owner.
Far from despising the bear, Mitch worries about the bear's well-being, and demands that Einar feed the now-caged bear. With Griff at his side, Einar dutifully complies. Mitch's instinct to show the bear mercy is a powerful, if obvious, metaphor.
Jean, meanwhile, officially reports her situation to Crane, in case Gary should show up again, and before long, motivated in part by Jean's intense sense of loneliness -- especially in light of Einar's unwelcoming coldness -- they commence an affair. Griff is angry about their liaison, as her mother has had a pattern of hooking up with disreputable men. But this will prove different, as Crane shows himself a decent man.
The pacing is leisurely, but the underlying threat of Gary's reappearance and the omnipresent bear wreaking more havoc add a good measure of suspense.
Director Lasse Hallstrom's film, though not devoid of cliches, vividly conveys its positive message about healing, letting go of the past and living life to the fullest despite tragedy. Though the life of Einar's son is referred to as "unfinished," the title also reflects Einar's emotional paralysis.
Lopez -- in a smallish part -- is well-cast and believable as a guilt-ridden woman on the run, while the versatile Lewis could not be more different from the veddy British Soames, an obsessed suitor of another stripe, that he played in the recent BBC "Forsyte Saga." Manheim is terrific as the good-hearted waitress who copes better than Einar with the loss of a child (her daughter drowned, we learn).
Lucas plays his share of bad guys, but here he's allowed to play one of the good ones. Gardner is refreshingly down-to-earth, and even the grizzly -- Bart II in real life -- acquits himself well. (The bear, symbolizes, none too subtly, those parts of our past of which we must let go.)
Lush location scenery and painterly photography (by Oliver Stapleton) are other pluses in this evocative and beautifully redemptive slice of Western Americana. |
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