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Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford) lives practically alone in his run-down ranch near Ishawooa,
Wyoming.
His only companion is Mitch (Morgan Freeman), an old ranch hand who is now an invalid after being mauled by a bear a year earlier. Caring for Mitch means giving him his daily dose of morphine as well as bringing him his meals. As they go through their daily routine, it seems their lives have come to a stand still, with nothing more to look forward to. Then suddenly, Jean (Jennifer Lopez), Einar's daughter-in-law and Griff (Becca Gardener), his granddaughter appear on his doorstep. Einar hates Jean because, though his son died accidentally 12 years ago, Einar thinks Jean is responsible for his death. Einar does not know he has a granddaughter. Jean knows she is unwelcome but often beaten by her live-in partner Gary (Damian Lewis), she has decided to flee from him, though she has nowhere to go. While Griff learns things easily on the ranch, Einar is indifferent, even hostile to the new arrivals. Mitch prods Einar to be civil to his family but will Einar learn to forgive and love? Jean's boyfriend comes to force her to return to him but will she find the way to sort out her life?
Devoid of fantastic special effects or adrenalin pumping action stunts that dominate the screen
these days, the movie An Unfinished Life depicts quietly what seems to be the static life of persons isolated physically and emotionally. But the uneventful story at
the outset turns out to be an absorbing and touching drama as the characters undergo personality changes and evolve into more than stereotypes.
Einar, the character of Redford, has the most dramatic metamorphosis but Mitch and Jean also later reveal redeeming traits. The movie, a slow, deliberate and incisive study of character succeeds in laying bare well-held secrets and deeply felt emotions. Redford's role, not that of the usual, handsome romantic heartthrob but of an unkempt, virtual recluse, gives him the opportunity to show his acting prowess and he proves himself equal to the task. Morgan Freeman, J Lo and the young Becca Gardener as Griff all give performances that cannot be faulted.
The phrase "an unfinished" life is written on the grave marker of Einar's son who passes away in
the prime of life without fulfilling the promise of his manhood.
But these words can very well apply to the other characters especially Einar, Jean and Mitch whose lives seen to be at a dead-end, a state of emptiness and also destined for non-fulfillment after the death of Einar's son. But the movie shows that an angry man made bitter by the death of a beloved can learn to forgive and to love if he allows himself to see what is good in others, especially his "unacceptable" in-laws, whom he may have condemned. When Einar says that Griff could not be the wholesome person she is by accident, he honestly admits the role of Jean in her upbringing. This reversal of his attitude towards Jean signals a reconciliation. Forgiveness revives and transforms him. He is at peace with himself. When Jean no longer tolerates abuse and violence against her person, she turns her back on her old life; when she forgives herself for her failures and resolves to begin anew, she deserves a better tomorrow. Mitch has proven to himself that his physical disability does not make him an invalid in every other way. To forgive life's hurts, to reconcile especially with family and in-laws, to love, to will to change -- these may spell the difference in one's life.
(Date Reviewed: 09 December 2005)
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