An Unfinished Life...
Sep. 22nd, 2005 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoI was given a free pass to see An Unfinished Life, and went with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lmondegreen. First (as a birthday present) she took me out to dinner at the Saigon restaurant in the market; I had a squid and vegetable dish that was delicious, despite being slightly more spicy than I generally like.
We both enjoyed the movie. It was set in Wyoming, and like all stories set in Wyoming, was about a misanthropic old cowboy. Robert Redford plays Einar Gilkyson, the old rancher whose son Griffin died in a car accident twelve years ago. His wife Jean (Jennifer Lopez) survived. Einar lives in crusty seclusion, his only companion his old ranch-hand Mitch (Morgan Freeman), who is crippled after being mauled by a bear. But to change their crusty bachelor lives, along comes Jean with Einar's eleven year old granddaughter Griff, and nowhere else to go. The bear who mauled Mitch plays a major role in shaking up their lives to, as does Jean's abusive ex-boyfriend.
I was hoping the bear would lunch on the nasty ex-boyfriend, but no such luck.
In the course of the story, the uprooted girl Griff learns to drive a truck and milk a cow and ride a horse and do some machine repair. She finds a place she can belong and a new interest in life. All I could think as I saw this was that if I had been in her situation, I'd have gone crazy. No library or bookstore within reach, no conversation except with monosyllabic old men, no movies - the only entertainment in town was an old bear and a couple of wolves in cages, and a pool hall where people go to drink, and the town wasn't close to the ranch. I couldn't have found myself in a place like that. I'd have been climbing the old log walls in a day or two.
Maybe that means it would do me good, all that fresh air and beautiful scenery, living rough on the range. Too bad, then, it's never going to happen.
After all these years, I still like Robert Redford. Last thing I saw him in was The Horse Whisperer, which was fairly boring, if only because I didn't like Kirsten Scott Thomas, and didn't much like the story, either. This was loads better.
IMDB says, "Set in Marion, Iowa, USA; but was filmed in Kamloops,BC, Canada. The production company licensed the "M" logo of Marion, the design and logos of the police cars, and asked for photographs of police uniforms." Not true: the whole story is explicitly set in Wyoming. In the mountains of Wyoming. Iowa is the place they left behind.
On my way home I walked along Elgin Street. It was very mild; it's supposed to be autumn now, but you'd think it was summer. There was a bit of drizzle, not enough to reach for my umbrella. Many people about. I looked at a few magazines in Mags and Fags and then went into Elgin Street video, where they had a DVD copy of Constantine at a price I could afford, i.e., dirt cheap. Happy day. I wanted that one!
lmondegreen. First (as a birthday present) she took me out to dinner at the Saigon restaurant in the market; I had a squid and vegetable dish that was delicious, despite being slightly more spicy than I generally like.We both enjoyed the movie. It was set in Wyoming, and like all stories set in Wyoming, was about a misanthropic old cowboy. Robert Redford plays Einar Gilkyson, the old rancher whose son Griffin died in a car accident twelve years ago. His wife Jean (Jennifer Lopez) survived. Einar lives in crusty seclusion, his only companion his old ranch-hand Mitch (Morgan Freeman), who is crippled after being mauled by a bear. But to change their crusty bachelor lives, along comes Jean with Einar's eleven year old granddaughter Griff, and nowhere else to go. The bear who mauled Mitch plays a major role in shaking up their lives to, as does Jean's abusive ex-boyfriend.
I was hoping the bear would lunch on the nasty ex-boyfriend, but no such luck.
In the course of the story, the uprooted girl Griff learns to drive a truck and milk a cow and ride a horse and do some machine repair. She finds a place she can belong and a new interest in life. All I could think as I saw this was that if I had been in her situation, I'd have gone crazy. No library or bookstore within reach, no conversation except with monosyllabic old men, no movies - the only entertainment in town was an old bear and a couple of wolves in cages, and a pool hall where people go to drink, and the town wasn't close to the ranch. I couldn't have found myself in a place like that. I'd have been climbing the old log walls in a day or two.
Maybe that means it would do me good, all that fresh air and beautiful scenery, living rough on the range. Too bad, then, it's never going to happen.
After all these years, I still like Robert Redford. Last thing I saw him in was The Horse Whisperer, which was fairly boring, if only because I didn't like Kirsten Scott Thomas, and didn't much like the story, either. This was loads better.
IMDB says, "Set in Marion, Iowa, USA; but was filmed in Kamloops,BC, Canada. The production company licensed the "M" logo of Marion, the design and logos of the police cars, and asked for photographs of police uniforms." Not true: the whole story is explicitly set in Wyoming. In the mountains of Wyoming. Iowa is the place they left behind.
On my way home I walked along Elgin Street. It was very mild; it's supposed to be autumn now, but you'd think it was summer. There was a bit of drizzle, not enough to reach for my umbrella. Many people about. I looked at a few magazines in Mags and Fags and then went into Elgin Street video, where they had a DVD copy of Constantine at a price I could afford, i.e., dirt cheap. Happy day. I wanted that one!
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-23 04:12 am (UTC)I love them both, but other than having mountains and coniferous trees, BC and Wyoming do NOT look alike.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-23 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-24 09:31 am (UTC)I know they don't care, and I'll let it pass more in TV then in movies, but it really does throw me out of the story, a lot.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-24 01:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-23 08:20 pm (UTC)I'm curious because I really really like her - she's one of those people whom I'll watch in anything.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-23 10:46 pm (UTC)There are a number of actors and actresses I would go to see in anything. She isn't one I'd avoid, but she wouldn't lure me out to see a movie either.