An Unfinished Life (2005)

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.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Mark Spragg, Virginia Korus Spragg

Stars:

Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Einar Gilkyson
Jennifer Lopez	...	Jean Gilkyson
Morgan Freeman	...	Mitch Bradley
Josh Lucas	...	Crane Curtis
Damian Lewis	...	Gary Winston
Camryn Manheim	...	Nina
Becca Gardner	...	Griff Gilkyson
Lynda Boyd	...	Kitty
Rob Hayter	...	Deputy
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Shelter Supervisor
Byron Lucas	...	Motorcycle Rider
Trevor Moss	...	Griffin Gilkyson
R. Nelson Brown	...	Kent (as Rnelsonbrown)
Dillard Brinson	...	Gnome Owner
Jason Diablo	...	Customer #1

Storyline

In order to escape from the abusive boy-friend, Gary Winston, Jean Gilkyson moves with her young daughter Griff Gilkyson without previous notice to the ranch of her father-in-law Einar Gilkyson in Wyoming. Jean and Einar are disaffected, since he blames her for the death of his beloved son in a car accident. Einar is taking care of his friend Mitch Bradley, who was attacked and seriously wounded by a bear, and he does not know that he has a grand-daughter. While Mitch heals his wounds and forgives the bear, Einar also changes his feelings regarding Jean, finally understanding that accidents happen and accepting her and loving his grand-daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

bear | friend | car accident | wyoming | ranch | 

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Taglines:

every secret takes on a life of its own

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence including domestic abuse, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [us] Official Facebook

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 2005 (Germany)

Also Known As:

En dag i livet

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$216,658 (Brazil) (17 March 2006)

Gross:

$551,809 (Brazil) (31 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Revolution Studios, Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Mitch Bradley's (Morgan Freeman) house there's a painted portrait of a black Civil War Union sergeant on the wall. Freeman played Civil War Union Sergeant-Major John Rawlins in Glory.

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Goofs

When Jean and Griff are first shown driving away, the car is shown going down a gravel road. Griff asks her mom about a couple of towns when the car breaks down. The next shot is Jean, standing outside on a nice paved two lane highway hoping to see another vehicle. The camera shot shows the highway far into the distance with no sign of a dirt road.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Einar Gilkyson: [talking to raccoon] I heard you interfering little bastards rummage around my yard. I'll thank you for keeping the owls off of my cats.

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Connections

Features Below (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Don't"
(2004)
Written by Shania Twain and Robert John Lange (as Robert John 'Mutt' Lange)
Performed by Shania Twain
Courtesy of Mercury Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Brilliant cast

This is the third film from the director that I saw after Chocolat n Cider Ho...I would not call this one a great piece of storytelling but I speak entirely for myself when I say, the characters do not let you go, while you watch this movie. And that is something. Each character and player when he/she is on screen is telling you so many things at a time that you get completely engrossed in their story.

Jennifer Lopez plays a single mother running away from her abusive(typical) boy friend Damian Lewis and has no where to go but to her Father-in-law who hates her. Father-in-law is of course Robert Redford who is not looking forward to anything in life, and his only real purpose in living seems to be to take care of his wounded friend Morgan Freeman. There is Bear which wounded Freeman and is the terror element in the otherwise peaceful Wyoming (smashing locales) town and there is Josh Lucas the love interest/sheriff for Jenny's Cinderella. There is débutant Becca Gardner the even-tempered daughter of Jenny's. Camrein Maynheim (The Practice) has a supporting role. And there I finish the list of principal characters in the movie.

Now why I am taking pains to mention each one of them is because they are who make this movie watchable. Especially Freeman,Gardner and Redford (in that order). Not that others do a bad job. But these three provide all the entertainment. None of the characters are living in what we would call normal circumstances in any way. At the same time there is nothing new about the story they are telling. It is just the way they go about telling it. Unhurriedly, through gestures and expressions, breathing life into these stereotypes. There is redemption for everyone involved and that is expected. But the story manages to teach you something, and not in a very persuasive manner. That is the redeeming feature of the movie and may be that is the flaw. It will fail to influence too many, some might even find it boring. But I guess that is Okay because for the few viewers who like an optimistic story told with compassionate characters played by expert actors, this one is worth watching.