Films that deal with grief, especially of a parent, tend to go a little bit heavy to the gut, and they are supposed to, since as I assume you are aware, their purpose is to convey the de-facto message: Live goes on.
And this is not exception. The message is the same, the location different.
An Unfinished Life takes advantage of signature acting of its main characters (Redford = rugged but kind, Freeman = Wise but cripple, Lopez = Slutty but righteous) and carries a predictable, non-challenging plot about a father loosing his son in an accident and having problems forgiving those involved in it.
As any good mourning movie, it has the usual confrontation between the suffering and the culprit, the talking at the grave, the frozen in time dead son room, the help-me-get-thru-this drinking, everything. So you may ask how they could make this movie a little bit more original
With a bear, of course.
Bringing a refreshing balance to the film and distracting you from seeing the actors doing their thing like in auto-pilot, the bear takes over the roll of being the metaphorical incarnation of the real meaning of forgiveness, for all of them, and that, my friend, makes this movie worth watching.
The magnificence of this beautiful animal and its role as a device for forgiveness are two details that transform this otherwise flat drama into a refreshing alternative to sappy grieving films.
And this is not exception. The message is the same, the location different.
An Unfinished Life takes advantage of signature acting of its main characters (Redford = rugged but kind, Freeman = Wise but cripple, Lopez = Slutty but righteous) and carries a predictable, non-challenging plot about a father loosing his son in an accident and having problems forgiving those involved in it.
As any good mourning movie, it has the usual confrontation between the suffering and the culprit, the talking at the grave, the frozen in time dead son room, the help-me-get-thru-this drinking, everything. So you may ask how they could make this movie a little bit more original
With a bear, of course.
Bringing a refreshing balance to the film and distracting you from seeing the actors doing their thing like in auto-pilot, the bear takes over the roll of being the metaphorical incarnation of the real meaning of forgiveness, for all of them, and that, my friend, makes this movie worth watching.
The magnificence of this beautiful animal and its role as a device for forgiveness are two details that transform this otherwise flat drama into a refreshing alternative to sappy grieving films.