An Unfinished Life

Another sweeping but soft melodrama from director Lasse Hallstrom (The Shipping News, Chocolat), An Unfinished Life—based on Mark Spragg's novel of the same name—stars Robert Redford as Einar, a grizzly Wyoming rancher who resentfully takes in his long-estranged, widowed daughter-in-law Jean (Jennifer Lopez) after she reluctantly turns up seeking shelter from an abusive boyfriend. Still bitterly nursing the loss of his son some 11 years ago in a car accident for which he blames Jean, the unfriendly ol' cuss becomes even more surly when introduced to Griff (Becca Gardner), his previously unknown 11-year-old tomboy granddaughter. Beautifully filmed, An Unfinished Life wears its outsized metaphors well, but is structurally so lacking in imagination (do you think that lackluster Lopez will fall for handsome, strong sheriff Josh Lucas?) that the story arc seems to have been drawn on graph paper rather than written in a script. Lopez's violent ex (Damian Lewis) even comes and goes on an obedient schedule expedient to the plot. With more imagination and emotional grit, this might have been a raw cinematic experience (who doesn't want to see Redford and ranch hand Morgan Freeman onscreen?) instead of feeling like the work of a romance novelist striving to be taken seriously. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary (by director Lasse Hallström, producer Leslie Holleran, and editor Andrew Mondshein), a 10-minute featurette on training “Bart the Bear,” a nine-minute “making-of” featurette, a still gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a disappointingly uneven film.] (R. Blackwelder)