An Unfinished Life

I’m now convinced that any character-driven drama absolutely must feature Morgan Freeman so that he can provide timely commentary on the human condition and wisely nudge the characters toward their inevitable epiphanies.

In this particular drama, Jean Gilkyson (Jennifer Lopez), a young widower who lives with a violently abusive boyfriend in the Midwest, finally reaches her breaking point after a severe beating and flees town with her only daughter. Not having any money whatsoever, she turns in desperation to her estranged father-in-law, Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford), who runs a small ranch in her Wyoming hometown. Einar blames Jean for his son’s death in a car accident nearly 12 years prior and has never healed from the loss, but out of pity for the granddaughter he didn’t even know he had, Einar agrees to take the two in temporarily while Jean tries to earn enough money to move on someplace else. Einar is gruff and distant with his granddaughter, Griff (Becca Gardner), and even more so with Jean, barely able to even speak to her. His longtime ranch hand, Mitch (Morgan Freeman), who lives in a small house next to Einar’s, was severely mauled by a bear a year earlier and is left as an invalid whom Einar cares for. Anytime Einar huffs around about Jean, Mitch provides a wise insight into Einar’s character that forces him to face his own personal issues and blah blah blah. While Jean works in the local diner to earn enough money to leave, Griff becomes obsessed with performing farm chores. Einar slowly warms up to his granddaughter through these shared activities, so Morgan Freeman takes a brief rest from stating life truths until the next big argument erupts. Eventually, Jean’s abusive ex boyfriend comes into town looking for her, which adds an interesting element to the plot.

Mitch discovers at the beginning of the movie that the bear that mauled him a year ago has been captured and placed in a local zoo, and he persuades Einar to visit the bear and feed it—his readiness to forgive the animal despite its drastic effect on his physical capabilities is the opposite of Einar’s refusal to move on past his son’s death by forgiving Jean. When the ex boyfriend finally confronts Jean for running away from him, Einar is forced to decide whether he can rise above his desperation to blame her in order to help her.

This movie is obviously all about character development, and the simple rustic setting mirrors the simple storyline. The acting is really well done, and although the movie progresses very slowly and deliberately I never really got bored with it. I only recommend An Unfinished Life to people who don’t mind the slow-moving, character driven stories where very little action occurs. I give it four stars because it really seems to achieve its objectives perfectly, and anyone who likes stories about human emotions will definitely enjoy this one.

Einar faces his issues. Jean faces her issues. The bear faces its issues. And Morgan Freeman nods serenely, another job well done.