Opening Day: 2 March 2006

Synopsis :

An Unfinished Life is a story about forgiveness, forgiveness of self and of others. It centers on the intersection of the lives of two sets of people: Einer Gilkyson (Robert Redford) and his hired hand and closest friend, Mitch Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who have lived and worked together for forty years on Einer’s ranch in northwestern Wyoming, and Jean Gilkyson (Jennifer Lopez), Einer’s daughter-in-law, and her eleven-year-old daughter, Griff (Becca Gardner), who are escaping an abusive situation with Jean’s current boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis).

Movie Review:

Set on a ranch in Ishawooa, Wyoming, “An Unfinished Life” is about an abused widow, Jean, who is fleeing her alcoholic and trigger-happy boyfriend with her daughter Griff in tow. With nowhere to go, they return to Wyoming to find her father-in-law, Einar, and old wounds are exposed as each stirs up painful memories of their unfinished lives for the other.

The thing is, Einar’s son Griffin was killed in a car accident, and he blames Jean (Jennifer Lopez) for the premature death. It’s unfair, but deep down Jean blames herself too. There is a speech where she reveals her innate inclination for abusive partners and her reasons are affecting. When she asks her friend Nina (Camryn Manheim), “Do you think I’m a shitty mother?” Nina’s answer is no, Jean’s doing the best she can. Incidentally so is Lopez, who packs raw energy into the role. She is still unable to anchor the film as the lead but fortunately, “An Unfinished Life” has enough pillars in the trio of Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and director Lasse Hallstrom.

In all aspects, the movie is too good to be mediocre but not good enough to be exceptional. Hallstrom’s impeccable style shines through his signature shots of silent pauses pregnant with meaning, such as the long shots of the sprawling ranch. Yet there is a hesitance in both the storyline and tone that renders the silences slightly more forgettable than poignant. In other words, there is a good chance you will like the movie, but it’s equally likely that you won’t be able to put a finger on it.

Living on the ranch with Einar is his solitary companion, Mitch. The two are loyal and stubborn friends who live for and because of each other, with Einar responsible for taking care of the recently-mauled-by-a-bear Mitch and Mitch keeping Einar’s alcohol tendencies in check. They are cranky and bicker as old friends do; the two actors fit into their characters like hands into gloves. Regardless of the inevitable “Million Dollar Baby” comparisons (which will be made even less relevant when it’s mentioned that this movie was filmed earlier than Clint Eastwood’s), Redford and Freeman can hold their own, thank you very much. Check out the scene where they’re having lunch with Griff (Becca Gardner), the banter is explicit and obvious but the acting draws out such easy leisure from the two that they’re nothing but a delight to watch.

Clearly, this is a movie driven by complex relationships. Griff is a crucial link in the chain as she discovers her explosive grandfather, warms up to Mitch and fills in the gap between Jean and Einar that was left by the death of her father. A promising Becca Gardner stands out from other child actors by simple virtue of not being annoyingly cloying or cute. She’s stubborn but almost always surrenders to adults because she has no choice, as all children do. Griff has regrets, pride and opinions, and reminds me of a less precocious, more subdued version of Anna Paquin’s Flora in “The Piano”.

Damian Lewis, an exceptional actor to those familiar with his work, is underutilized as the abusive ex-boyfriend Gary, who merely looms darkly in the background like a bad metaphor for all the unresolved issues facing the main characters. Another slightly bizarre metaphor comes in the form of the bear that once belonged to Mitch. The bear must be feared as Gary must not, but both must be overcome before lives can go on.

Hallstrom’s previous works (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”; “Chocolat”) have had me in raptures; “An Unfinished Life” is nearly there, but not quite. Though it is equally heartfelt, it feels somewhat less polished and a tad half-hearted but perhaps this untreated quality is precisely what the movie intends to convey – a message that’s rough around the edges and imperfect but nonetheless needs to be heard. That everyone will claim to have been dealt a bad hand but life goes on, and all they have to do is deal with it.

Movie Rating:

(A raw and stubborn movie that’s characteristically Hallstrom-esque: contented, frank and dysfunctional. Not the crown jewel of his respectable resume, but certainly a gem)

Review by Angeline Chui