An Unfinished Life
Picture: B
Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B-
Lasse Hallström is a filmmaker that I seldom care for; so
going into An Unfinished Life I did
not exactly have high hopes. The film
starts out in nearly predictable fashion as Jean Gilkyson (Jennifer Lopez) and
her daughter flee to Wyoming from her abusing boyfriend at the time, but before
you can say Enough you might ask,
“Why would they flee to Wyoming?” Well,
they have little money, no car, and her father-in-law (Robert Redford) lives
there. Her father-in-law? Yes, she was once married, but he died at
the age of 21 and the kicker here is that her daughter is actually his. Predictability sets in as we find out
quickly that Jean and her father-in-law are not exactly on great terms. He blames her for his
down-and-out-luck. His wife left him
and the only person he has in his life is his farmhand Mitch (Morgan Freeman)
who he takes care of on his farm. Mitch
was attacked by a grizzly bear and hobbles around, but is taken care of on the
farm. The purpose of Mitch’s character
is essentially to play the ‘voice of reason’ within our story.
Jean quickly finds a job in the local town to make ends
meat for a while and then her and her daughter can be on their way. In the meantime they make do with what they
have living on the farm. A friendship
is struck between the daughter and with Mitch and her grandfather slowly warms
up to her. Jean also catches the eye of
the local sheriff (Josh Lucas) and their relationship you can see coming a mile
away. Redford is spectacular in his role, which is slightly different than
anything he has down in his lengthy career.
All of the performances are good matches, but hardly stretch any of the
actors in their abilities. This is a
play-by-play type of film, but nonetheless a worthwhile sit-through.
The film becomes a bit more interesting when Jean’s
ex-boyfriend suddenly arrives in the town that they are in…wonder how he found
them? Maybe it’s a likely choice, but
it’s also a very obvious direction for the film to take since there needs to be
some conflict to occur aside from the resolution of mixed feelings among our
characters.
From a sound perspective the Dolby 5.1 mix is sufficient
and actually better than a lot of the Dolby mixes being released. The surrounds are not nearly as active as
one might hope, but work considering the film is more low-key. Fidelity is on par for the majority of the
film with some nice rain sounds and other natural sounds, including the films
dialogue, which is well balanced. The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 scope picture is slightly tighter and is
probably a bit closer to 2.40 X 1. The
Wyoming landscape looks wonderful although does not play an active backdrop as
one might have thought. Oliver
Stapleton’s camerawork is natural and also similar to his other films that he
has worked on with Hallström including The
Shipping News, The Cider House Rules,
and even the more recent Casanova
(reviewed elsewhere on this site).
Extras are fairly decent with a ‘making of’ feature that
seems to come standard these days with DVD’s.
Then there is a segment on training Bart, the bear from the film, plus
commentary from Hallström the producer and also the editor of the film. All of these are fairly simple and nothing
really that in-depth or for that matter…overly exciting.
This is a film that will please the average family looking
for a good Friday evening film to gather around. It’s semi-memorable, but I doubt it has the gusto to be a
long-term pleaser. If you are looking
for something more entertaining that involves bears… check out the documentary Grizzly Man.
- Nate Goss
