AmateurMovieReviews.com

By Christina VanGinkel

An Unfinished Life stars Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, and a supporting cast that includes the likes of Camryn Manheim, Damian Lewis, Joshua Lucas, and newcomer Becca Gardner. I am never big on names of producers and directors and such, but when I heard that the producer of An Unfinished Life was Alan Ladd, I figured that it could not hurt a film to have such a man in the producer's seat.

I first watched this show just a few nights ago. Its original unveiling was in September of 2005, and it made its debut on DVD in April of 2006. A fan of almost the whole cast listing; it was a no brain decision for me to sit down and watch it.

From the start, I felt the show was slow moving, calm even, yet this is not always a bad thing. In the beginning, we see the character Jean, a single mother played by Jennifer Lopez, and her young daughter Griff, played by Becca Gardner, in a bad situation with a boyfriend. Deciding it is time to leave the boyfriend, the two packs up their meager belongings and head out of town with no true destination in mind. When their car breaks down, Jean comes to terms that as broke as she is, and with her daughter along, the only sensible thing to do is to go home.

Home is back to her father-in-law, Einar Gilkyson, and his ranch where she once knew nothing but happiness. Now though, it is not the welcoming home she would have hoped or dared thought it would be. Einar blames Jean for the death of his one and only son, Jean's husband, who was killed in an accident that had Jean behind the wheel. The ranch has been left to fall apart, in part because of an accident that had befallen the main ranch hand, and because Einar feels there is not much left in life for him to hang on for.

When we first see the ranch, we meet the ranch hand, Mitch, played by Morgan Freeman. He has been the hired help on the ranch so long; he is as much family as anyone else. Laid up from a run in with a grizzly that he surprised while the grizzly was busily devouring a cow he had killed, he befriends Jean's young daughter Griff, and between the two of them, they quietly push for reconciliation between old Einar and Jean. Einar never knew he had a granddaughter, as Jean was pregnant, we learn, at the funeral of her husband, Einar's son. Griff never knew she had a grandfather either. Griff falls in love with the ranch and the men who have made it their life, and when Jean moves off the ranch into town, Griff runs back to the ranch, the only stable home it seems she has ever really known. With scenes such as Einar teaching her how to drive and trusting her to make sure Mitch gets his meals and letting her name all of the farms cats, there is a heart in this show that some critics might just call a waste of time. I found it to be touching, and somewhat close to what real life might be. Sure, there is drama, but there is also a lot of calm in between, unlike many of the fast-paced dramas we so often see made.

As things would have it, Jean's abusive boyfriend finds her, figuring that her hometown is where she might run to, and even after the sheriff, Jean's new love interest, and old Einar, try to run him off, he makes the mistake of coming back to town. Between Mitch's plans to have Einar help the bear that mauled him, by releasing him from the local zoo with the help of young Griff, and young Griff accidentally causing old Einar to be attacked by the same bear, Einar realizes that accidents do happen; something he had been unwilling to admit to both himself and Jean. Add in the boyfriend needing to be taught a lesson, and there is a lot going on in the film, just in a more relaxed manner than someone might think for the story unfolding. If you are a fan of Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford, or Morgan Freeman, and do not mind a film that is a bit laid back more so than many, then be sure to check out An Unfinished Life.