Unfinished Life, An (2005)

Director Lasse Hallstrom is hailed by many as a genius, though I do not share the sentiment. I find Mr. Hallstrom's inveterate brand of gooey, feel good, hokum to be excruciating. Credit for the success of both Chocolat andThe Cider House Rules is owed far more to the creative marketing execs at Miramax than to the artistic credibility that Lasse Hallstrom brought to them.

So you can imagine my shock at watching Lasse Hallstrom's latest effort An Unfinished Life and finding myself honestly moved. Stripping away his stock melodramatics, Lasse Hallstrom crafts a quiet unassuming examination of grief and four uniquely fascinating characters that succeed without Hallstrom's usual heavy handedness.

Robert Redford stars in An Unfinished Life as Einar Gilkyson, a crusty old cowboy living set in his ways in the mountains of Wyoming. Milking cows and riding horses are Einar's daily pursuits. What you would not expect is the care with which this curmudgeonly character takes care of his oldest friend, Mitch (Morgan Freeman), the victim of a bear attack for which Einar feels responsible. Dropping any pretense of cowboy toughness Einar is genuinely caring for his old friend.

Into this routine walks Einar's former daughter-in-law Jean (Jennifer Lopez). Having just escaped with her 12 year old daughter Griff (Becca Gardener) from an abusive boyfriend, Jean is turning to the only family she has left. Einar, however, is not happy to see her. Einar blames Jean for the death of his son Griffin, her husband. Having disappeared immediately after Griffin's funeral, Jean never told Einar about his grandaughter.

This premise sets up for a number of possible dramatic flourishes and opportunities abound for grand thematic gestures. However what makes An Unfinished Life so fascinating is the number of times those grand gestures are passed in favor of a quieter more realistic approach to the characters. Often times directors overwhelm dramas with grandiose turns; traumatic, almost Jobian, pitfalls that are meant to create further drama but more often take away realism in favor of jerking tears out of the eyes of moviegoers.

Hallstrom stays so far away from this method that An Unfinished Life threatens to become so real as to mirror mundane everyday life. That is only avoided by the terrifically talented cast lead by Robert Redford. In what is a return to form after a series of forgettable films, Mr. Redford digs in and delivers a wonderful portrait of a grieving father, an aging cowboy and an extraordinary friend. Redford and Freeman make a wonderful team onscreen and they seem to relish playing old cowboys reminiscing about a way of life that is almost nonexistant now.

The script was adapted for the screen by the writers of the book of the same name, Mike Spragg and Virginia Korus Spragg. The husband and wife team living in the mountains of California crafted the story character by character, giving each a backstory that they only later linked to the other characters as the story progressed. This unique approach helped in creating wonderfully fleshed out characters whose depth and soul are communicated by this great cast.

Naturally not every element of the book could make it into the film. Some of the lost items include a little of Jean's backstory, that of her jealous and dangerous ex-boyfriend Gary (Damian Lewis) and much of Jean's romance with the local Wyoming sheriff played by Josh Lucas. At some point these stories were left undone in favor of making the movie about Einar.  Everything flows from him in this version.

This is not a bad approach, especially since Robert Redford delivers such a terrific performance.

I love the idea that characters like the ones played by Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman really exist. It's charming to think that somewhere in the mountains of Wyoming there are these rough and tumble cowboy types of bygone days who have deeply philosophical conversations and poetic musings about dreams. The location is romantic and the characters give context to that romantic air by acting as if they really exist, somewhere out there away from society.

The focus on Einar and Mitch's close friendship is also the source of humor in the film. There is the old married couple way in which they relate to each other that is at times quite funny. And then there is a more overt question of their closeness from the granddaughter who in her precocious 12 year old way asks outright if the two old cowboys are gay. This could have been a cheap joke but in execution it's a very sweet funny moment and a necessary moment of levity breaking into the underlying and ponderous sadness at the films core.

In the end, An Unfinished Life is about grief and forgiveness. Einar has never forgiven Jean for the car accident that took his son's life. By the same token, Jean has never forgiven herself which led her into a series of abusive relationships. The film emphasizes the point with expository dialogue from Jean saying exactly what we in the audience already knew.  She feels she deserves the abuse because she holds herself responsible for the death of her husband.

That tendency in the dialogue to over-explain a point is one of a few minor flaws in the film. Another is the budding romance between Jean and the local sheriff played by Josh Lucas. The two actors look good together but the sparks never really ignite, probably because both characters stories are cut back to make more room for Einar and Mitch's stories. Thankfully Einar and Mitch are so interesting you can forgive the inconsistencies.

Another issue that might annoy observant moviegoers is a small number of editing problems. Scenes that do not connect with the rest of the story, seemingly added to give supporting characters more screentime. Lopez is the subject of most of these extraneous scenes, such as a scene in a diner, where she has taken a job, in which she confronts a pair of rednecks warning them not to mess with her. The scene shows Jean can stand up for herself when she wants to but that point is repeated more compellingly and necessarily later when she has a final confrontation with Einar.

Final

Regardless of these minor problems, An Unfinished Life is a lovely dramatic piece. Lyrical, prosaic at times, but always involving. Director Lasse Hallstrom has never crafted a more enjoyable film.

It's a real shame that the film was yet another casualty of the Miramax-Disney war. After sitting on the shelf for a year the film has the stench of failure attached to it. This is quite unfair, especially for a film that marks the return to form of the legendary Robert Redford. Given the proper care An Unfinished Life could have been an Oscar nominated coda for Mr. Redford's extraordinary career.

He will have to settle for the gentle appreciation of audiences who will no doubt be charmed by An Unfinished Life.