An Unfinished Life

After a good two years on the shelf, the last and least of Lasse Hallström’s four-film association with Miramax reaches the light of day. And thoroughly ordinary it is too, despite admittedly decent contributions from a top cast. Fleeing from an abusive boyfriend, Jennifer Lopez and her daughter seek refuge in the foothills of the Rockies with ornery Robert Redford, the father of her late husband, who’s long blamed her for the car crash which ended his son’s life. In fact, her arrival makes him extra ornery, though he still has time to tend the wounds of old pal Morgan Freeman, who’s had a serious run-in with a fugitive grizzly, and the presence of his granddaughter may yet bring a grudging smile.

So, everyone needs to move on, and move on they do in exactly the way you’d expect. It’s beyond predictable, yet not unpleasant to sit through as Hallström finds a comfortable ambling pace and has time for the lovely landscapes. Redford’s tougher than you expect, Lopez reasonable, Freeman the usual. It’s like a superior TV movie which suddenly wandered into cinemas.