an unfinished life

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~Sunday~  I once again used my Amazon Prime subscription to stream a free movie—an unfinished life.

I’d never heard of this movie, but it was in one of the “suggested watching” sections, and it had some heavy-hitting actors in it, including Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Jennifer Lopez was in it, too, but since I didn’t know she was an actress, I’m disinclined to categorize her as a heavy hitter.

Camryn Manhein was in it, whom I love from my days of watching The Practice, and although I wouldn’t classify her as a heavy hitter either, the fact that she was in it was definitely a draw for me.

The synopsis

A down on her luck woman, desperate to provide care for her daughter, moves in with her father-in-law from whom she is estranged. Through time, they learn to forgive each other and heal old wounds.

The trailer

My thoughts and observations

  • I really liked this film.
  • I cried during it. A couple of times. Which I haven’t done during a film in a while. There’s something about a straight man getting in touch with his emotions, and a father’s love for his son. 🙂
  • Themes touched on:
    • Domestic violence
    • Alcoholism
    • Death of a child
    • Guilt
    • Forgiveness
    • Facing your fears
    • Family
    • Man vs. animal
    • Seeking first to understand, then to be understood
  • Me being shallow alert: I spent too much time trying to figure out if that mole, which was quite prominent on Robert Redford’s face in his early years, was covered up with make-up somehow, or if it’s actually gone now.
  • Conflict is what makes a good story, and there’s no shortage of it in this movie:
    • Between Robert Redford’s character and all three of the other main characters, to various degrees, at various times
    • At times between Jennifer Lopez’s character and her daughter
    • Between Jennifer Lopez’s character and the abusive boyfriend she runs away from
    • Between Morgan Freeman’s character and “the bear”
  • Overall, two thumbs up from me, but it didn’t seem to do that well at the box office in 2005, so YMMV.

Have you seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it?
 

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