|
I wasn’t expecting much from “An Unfinished
Life,” that much is true. Not even Robert Redford can turn a bad movie
into a watchable one. But after I was finished with it, I liked it. It’s
cheesy in some parts, and recycled, but in the end I’d enjoyed spending
almost two hours with these characters. Hell, even Morgan Freeman, whose
character Mitch is just another variation on his character from “Million
Dollar Baby,” even was an interesting character. Freeman is able to be
likable in basically anything he’s in and he’s become a rare commodity
in Hollywood, which happens to be a damn shame. The man is too talented
for narration, and appearing for five minutes as a mentor to someone.
Otherwise, Hallstrom’s picture is an entertaining and very sweet drama
about old wounds.
Everyone in the picture has an
old wound that still hasn’t healed, and the entrance of Jean
into the life
of Einar re-opens old wounds and grudges that he can’t let
go of. Robert Redford is fantastic as usual. The man is
still a damn good actor, and he makes
“An Unfinished Life” worth the time spent. Iner is not
a very likable character. He’s bitter, obnoxious, and often
times, just plain cruel, but Redford is able to convince us
to give him a chance even if we never warm up to him.
|
|
 |
But the pure highlight of “An Unfinished
Life” is Becca Gardner who is just excellent as Lopez’s daughter. She’s
probably one of the few child actors I can watch without wanting to beat
with a shovel, and she plays off against Redford and Freeman better than
Lopez. She’s adorable, and her character is utterly fascinating. Her
relationship with Redford’s character helps to fuel the movie and keep
it going through its typical conventions and she’s a dynamo. I wish
she’d been the main character along with Einar. Hallstrom posits a
beautiful movie with amazing landscapes, and I enjoyed “An Unfinished
Life” even with its flaws.
Jennifer Lopez? Hi, it’s a former fan of
yours. Did I say fan? I worshipped you. I had books of pictures with
you, I had a huge poster of yours, and I just dreamed of you all the
time. And then once you dated P. Diddy Daddy Doo, whatever the hell his
name is, I lost interest. And now I can finally see. You’re a terrible
actress. Did I say terrible? Every time you were on screen, you proved
you’re only famous because of your looks and that nice rump you sport.
You couldn’t handle playing off of Robert Redford, I’m sorry. You
couldn’t even handle playing off of Josh Lucas. It’s true, you know.
You’re horrible. Every time you were on screen, I was in agony, and my
sister who sat next to me not paying attention even remarked how
horrible you were.
Why are
you in this movie? Why don’t we have someone better like Sarah Polley? I
don’t know, and personally I don’t care. You’re a horrible actress, and
you brought “An Unfinished Life” to a stand still every time you were on
screen. I hope you enjoyed working with Redford, because it’s the
closest you’ll get to an Oscar. Meanwhile, “An Unfinished Life” is
nothing but a Hallmark movie with a great cast, pure and simple. It’s
about as cliché and formula as a greeting card, and worst yet, it was
predictable. It was so predictable in fact, I guess everything that
would happen an hour before. Grandpa would soften up to his
granddaughter, the abusive boyfriend would follow Jean, Jean in her
one-dimensional personality would fall for the sheriff, and yes,
eventually Mitch would confront his demon. Give me something to be
surprised about, next time
Sure, it’s a glorified Hallmark movie with a
great cast, but in spite of it all, “An Unfinished Life” struck a chord
with me. The great cast pull in very good performances, and the story is
sweet, even if Jennifer Lopez brings it all to a screeching halt.
-
Robert Redford
starred with Paul Newman in two movies, Josh Lucas, who stars with
Redford, played a young Paul Newman in “Empire Falls.”
-
Damian Lewis
starred in “Dreamcatcher,” with Morgan Freeman.
|
