![]() Language is the only deterrent to Dove approval. It demonstrates the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation as the only ointment to cure a broken spirit. Damien Lewis was downright scary as Gary, Jean’s abusive boyfriend.ĭespite its flaws, “An Unfinished Life” successfully conveys a message rare in today’s movies. Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman reminded me of the grumpy old men relationship Freeman had with Clint Eastwood in “Million Dollar Baby.” Jennifer Lopez and Becca Gardner were convincing as an abused, but always hopeful mother and daughter team. The performances are very believable, even though the characters themselves are rather cliché. The film’s ending is somewhat predictable, but welcome, nonetheless. But it is also a story of hope and redemption that comes from letting go of those inner demons. In the case of Mitch, it’s about the near-death confrontation he had with a grizzly bear. In the case of Einar and his daughter-in-law Jean, it is due to the tragic death of his son, her husband, Griffin. Unforgivably at the wheel, Griffin’s wife Jean (Jennifer Lopez), left town, not telling anyone she was pregnant at the time.“An Unfinished Life” is a story about the pain, anguish and depression caused by holding onto bitterness in the wake of personal loss. (The DVD’s requisite making-of documentary suggests much the same thing, but takes eight minutes instead of Redford’s elegant 30 seconds.Įinar, the film shows repeatedly, is as damaged emotionally as Mitch is physically, owing mostly to the death of his excellent rodeo rider son, Griffin, in a car accident some 12 years ago. “You just believe every second of that,” notes Hallström, and he’s right: it’s a scene that doesn’t precisely move the story, but expands on Einar, his sense of gruff independence, his sense that the diurnal obstacles never stop. Watching them together, as Einar administers Mitch’s daily dose of morphine, Holleran pronounces, “Men of fewer words, they’re not needed.”įor his part, Hallström likes the subtler strokes, as when Redford sits in his truck and is unable to start it, his face shadowed by his cowboy hat, the truck pitched to create a canted frame, and then, briefly, his face hidden altogether as he leans on the steering wheel (“Goddamnit,” he mutters). Once a ranch hand, Mitch was mauled and badly scarred by a bear a year before, and Einar feels all kinds of guilt (the causal event is revealed late in the film, as if the plot specifics tell you anything you don’t already know). The redemption is the corny and predictable part, but the route to it is occasionally compelling, owing to Redford’s interactions with young Griff and also his best friend, Mitch (Morgan Freeman). “We talked about that, and we were of a mind to say, Redford is always so likable as an actor that you can take it all the way out to the edge and be rough with a child and not be sharing and giving and still make that hairpin turn and come back and have a redemption.” “How cranky can Einar be and still keep him vulnerable, human, and sympathetic?” asks Holleran as she watches the character clump around the kitchen and his just-met 11-year-old daughter Griff (Becca Gardner), tries to keep out of his way. Speaking on a separate track spliced into Hallström’s, the director’s longtime husband-and-wife collaborators, producer Leslie Holleran and editor Andrew Mondshein both remark Einar’s reserve. The mythology of the West as a land of hardy, stoic immigrants makes sense in Redford’s body, which is surely weathered, if still sturdy. ![]() “Robert Redford, an idol of mine,” he muses as the film begins, “I’ve been following his career for many years from Sweden, before I moved to the U.S. His affection for the project and characters is plain from the start: Einar Gilkyson, played by Robert Redford, is of Swedish descent, and the details of his Wyoming home and habits reflect Hallström’s experiences. “Let’s see if I can remember,” says Lasse Hallström as he begins to describe An Unfinished Life for the DVD commentary track. ![]() They call ’em accidents to make the guilty feel better. I like documentaries, I like anything real, and trying to observe and comment on human behavior, and make movies where we recognize themselves. I’ve always been interested in real life stories and trying to portray real life. ![]()
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