未竟一生 An Unfinished Life review by TIM KNIGHT 英语影评

未竟一生，An Unfinished Life

The Miramax clearance sale continues with An Unfinished Life, Lasse Hallstrom's hugely disappointing character study starring Hollywood A-listers Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman. This earnest and contrived story of an aging rancher estranged from his daughter-in-law meanders predictably towards the inevitable reconciliation, without ever feeling genuine. What's supposed to be an emotionally uplifting tale of forgiveness and second chances instead comes across as embarrassingly trite, like one of those maudlin Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television movies, where touchy-feely aphorisms pass for heartfelt dialogue. The stars do what they can in their sketchily developed roles, but their sincere efforts are mostly for naught in this dramatically banal film.

 

Written by novelist Mark Spragg and his wife Virginia, a former therapist (which explains the script's excess of psychobabble-style exchanges and anguished revelations), An Unfinished Life takes place in rural northwestern Wyoming. Rancher Einer Gilkyson (Redford) has never gotten over the death of his only son, Griff, who died in a car accident years before. A crotchety sort, he shares his spread with his old friend/ranch hand Mitch Bradley (Freeman), who's still recovering from being mauled by a grizzly bear. With Griff dead and his wife MIA, Einer feels like he's alone in the world except for Mitch. Until his estranged daughter-in-law Jean (Lopez) arrives with her 11-year-old daughter Griff (Becca Gardner) in tow. Fleeing an abusive boyfriend (Damian Lewis), Jean asks Einer if she and Griff can stay with him awhile. Although he blames Jean for killing his son (she was driving and fell asleep at the wheel), Einer begrudgingly agrees to let her and his tomboy granddaughter stay. Slowly—very slowly, thanks to Hallstrom's lackadaisical direction—Einer bonds with his granddaughter and learns to forgive Jean, who's anxious to make a fresh start in this picturesque setting. www.130q.com

 

The scenery is the only element in An Unfinished Life that feels remotely authentic (even though the film was shot in British Columbia). Oliver Stapleton's cinematography captures the desolate beauty of the harsh terrain. It's the Wyoming that novelist Annie Proulx depicts so indelibly in her short-story collection, Close Range, which includes Brokeback Mountain. In their screenplay, the Spraggs try to paint an emotionally astute rendering of contemporary Wyoming life a la Proulx, whose spare prose vividly evokes the life of her characters as a mixture of hard-bitten stoicism and aching loneliness. Unlike Proulx, however, the Spraggs litter their Wyoming narrative with "big sky" clichés, on-the-nose dialogue, and pat story developments. Characters literally cross paths at the most dramatically convenient times throughout An Unfinished Life, which the Spraggs also burden with a symbolism-heavy subplot about the grizzly bear that mauled Freeman's character.

 

On the plus side, Redford and Freeman are warmly believable as lifelong friends who bicker like some old married couple (the stars previously worked together in Brubaker). And newcomer Gardner is appealingly matter-of-fact as the sensitive tomboy granddaughter. As for Lopez, she's decent in an underwritten role as the tortured Jean, who finds an unlikely suitor in the dreamboat local sheriff (Josh Lucas).

 

Shot in 2003, An Unfinished Life has long been gathering dust on the Miramax release shelf—which is where it should have stayed.

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