The film's title is the epitaph on the gravestone of Griffin Gilkyson, Einar's only son who was killed in a car accident while Jean was driving.
With little money and a wish to leave no trail, Jean returns to the Wyoming ranch of her father-in-law Einar (Robert Redford), a man who has yet to forgive her for "An Unfinished Life." Director Lasse Hallström ("Chocolat," "The Shipping News") won't be reviving his reputation with this contrived and cliched adaptation of Mark Spragg's book (screenplay by Mark and Virginia Korus Spragg), but "An Unfinished Life" is still a well crafted piece of work with a strong sense of place (Ishawooa, Wyoming) and fine if unexceptional work by the ensemble cast. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.Jean Gilkyson (Jennifer Lopez) finally listens to her daughter Griff (Becca Gardner, "What Ever Happened to Alice") and leaves her abusive boyfriend Gary (Damian Lewis, "Dreamcatcher"). Screenplay Mark Spragg and Virginia Korus Spragg. Producers Leslie Holleran, Kelliann Ladd, Alan Ladd Jr. Times guidelines: Wife beating, sexual references and other adult material MPAA rating: PG-13 for some violence, including domestic abuse, and language When the bear isn’t on screen, “An Unfinished Life” makes do with sentimental musings like “Do you think the dead really care about our lives?” If that includes watching pictures like this, the answer is probably no. Still, if you compare his scenes with Freeman with what Freeman did with Clint Eastwood in a similar relationship in “Million Dollar Baby,” you end up respecting what Eastwood and screenwriter Paul Haggis accomplished more. While Lopez, Freeman and Lucas do solid work, it is Redford who seems to be having the most fun playing the crankiest geezer in town. It’s not that the action is that badly done, it’s that it’s so obvious. Griff and her grandfather will get close, psycho Gary will show up out of nowhere and that pesky bear will serve some dread metaphorical purpose. If you’ve ever seen a movie, you know what’s going to happen. Einar, who holds Jean responsible for his son’s death, does not exactly greet her with open arms, but local sheriff Crane Curtis (Josh Lucas) is more receptive.
Ensnared in an abusive relationship with soft-spoken psycho Gary (Damian Lewis), Jean returns to Ishawooa for the first time in more than a decade.
Halfway across the country, Einar’s widowed daughter-in-law, Jean (Lopez), and Griff, the 11-year-old granddaughter he doesn’t know he has (a charming Becca Gardner) are having problems of their own. Up on a hill above the ranch house is the grave of Einar’s died-too-young son, with a gravestone inscribed “An Unfinished Life.” It starts with cantankerous rancher Einar Gilkyson (Redford), living outside Ishawooa, Wyo., with former hired hand Mitch Bradley (Freeman), now disabled because of an attack by that wandering bear. The film’s story is not a complicated one. Which is not surprising given that director Hallstrom, whose previous films include “The Shipping News,” “Chocolat” and “The Cider House Rules,” is a known wallower in emotion. The leanly written novel was widely praised for its unsentimental nature when it was published last year, but that quality is nowhere to be found in the film.
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