My apprehensions were still strong at the beginning of the movie but as it quickly progressed Jennifer Lopez got better and better and the inclusion of Redford and Freeman was fantastic as I really think working with top actors such as those two guys really elevated J-Lo’s performance. ![]() What happened was something very unexpected as An Unfinished Life turned into a hidden gem of a movie that not many people are even aware of exists. After a lot of stubbornness I finally decided to just bite the bullet and watch it as what’s the worst that could’ve happened? I fully expected this particular movie to follow the same pattern despite having the likes of Robert Redford and the wonderful Morgan Freeman joining her on screen. I’ve been seeing An Unfinished Life quite frequently pop into my ‘recommended for you’ category on Netflix and I’ll be the first to admit I kept scrolling past it mainly because of a quick glance at the movie poster and the cast showed me that Jennifer Lopez was one of the stars and around the time of An Unfinished Life’s release she was in some atrocious movies such as Gigli, Maid in Manhattan and Monster-In-Law. With that being said having just finished An Unfinished Life, I felt compelled to share some brief thoughts with you guys because it was a movie that totally caught me off guard. Lasse Hallström directed An Unfinished Life.I did say in my returning post a couple days ago that I was going to save my movie reviews for both the best of the best and the truly awful and anything in between I wasn’t going to bother as I’d probably fall back into finding writing movie reviews too time consuming which I’d like to avoid this time around. The particulars of this one made it interesting to experience because the characters and circumstances are well-drawn and well-played. Stories about grief and forgiveness are so real, so human, so universal. I liked the film as much the second time as I did the first. The film was shot in Canada, but the ranch and surrounding hills look enough like Wyoming to be convincing. The acting was superlative, as you would expect from a stellar cast like this one. The passing days bring changes to every one of characters as they explore their grief and pain face to face, get to know each other, and have adventures with bears. That was a long plot setup for what follows as Jean works at Nina’s cafe and saves enough money to go somewhere else. Meanwhile, the sheriff takes Jean up on her offer of commitment-free sex. The handsome sheriff (Lucas) promises to be on the lookout for Gary the abuser, who indeed does show up. She goes into town and gets a waitress job from Nina (Manheim).Įveryone in town remembers Jean, remembers the wreck that killed her husband. He didn’t even know he had a grandchild who looks just like her dad. She was driving when they had a wreck that killed his son. The first thing he says when he sees the two of them walking up is, “I don’t want you here.”Įinar and his ranch hand of many years Mitch (Freeman) are living out their days with one milk cow, one horse, a pickup truck that runs only sometimes, and the need to care daily for Mitch who was mauled by a bear about a year ago.Įinar blames Jean for the death of his son. Out of desperation, Jean takes her daughter to her father-in-law Einar’s (Redford) tumbledown wreck of a ranch in Wyoming. They abandoned the car and everything in it except what they could stuff in plastic bags. The car broke down in the middle of nowhere. Apparently the promise was to leave Gary, because mother and daughter packed their belongings and drove off in a clunker of a car. When he beats up Jean yet again, Griff reminds her mother that the last time it happened she promised. The basic plot: Jean Gilkyson (Lopez) and her 8 year old daughter Griff (Gardner) live with Gary, an abusive boyfriend (Lewis). ![]() The different characters experience grief in their own ways, cling to it in their own ways, and ultimately work through it in their own ways. The film also features Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Josh Lucas, Damian Lewis, Camryn Manheim, and young Becca Gardner. Jennifer Lopez isn’t the only attraction. When I saw it on Netflix, I thought Why not give it another try? It’s crazy hard to find anything with a good lead female character on Netflix, and here was An Unfinished Life with Jennifer Lopez just waiting. I watched 2005’s An Unfinished Life years ago and remember liking it.
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