An Unfinished Life: Movie Review

Characters:

Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford)
Mitch (Morgan Freeman)
Jean (Jennifer Lopez)
Griff (Becca Gardner)
Gary (Damian Lewis)
Local Deputy sheriff (Josh Lucas)

Forgiveness and moving on in life - this is the theme of An Unfinished Life.

Jean, who was beaten up by her boyfriend Gary, is running away along with her daughter Griff. Apparently she has nowhere to go other than the ranch where her former father-in-law Einar stays. Einar is a tough cowboy with a golden heart. He cares for his friend Mitch who was seriously pawed by a bear.

Both Jean and Einar are not happy with the meeting. We later on finds out that Jean was driving the car in the accident that killed Einar's son. He blames Jean for that incident. Mitch tries to put Einar out of his bitterness. Anyway, Einar grudgingly allows Jean and Griff to stay with him.

As the movie progresses Einar and Griff slowly get attached with each other. But Einar is still not forgiving Jean who has found a new boyfriend in the local deputy sheriff.

Well, I'm not going to say the whole story. Well, there aren't much surprises because it is every inch a sweet-emotional-drama where everything is fine in the end.

The main problem I have with this movie is that J Lo never look like a woman who will stand there and take the beating from her boyfriend. Oh! There is bear that is an important character in this movie - the bear that attacked Mitch. He always asks about that animal. The bear surely has some symbolic role, but I'm not sure what it is. The problem is I can explain it in a dozen ways – that’s the ay with symbolism!

Ultimately, An Unfinished Life talks about forgiving yourself and others and bonding with your fellow beings. I'll say it has a nice and valid point. But the movie failed to touch my heart.

If you don't like sentimental dramas and lessons about life this movie is not for you.
If you are in a mood for lightweight philosophies and the open countryside give it a try...may be you will like it.

Categories: Movie, Review, Hollywood, Movie Review

FlightPlan: Movie Review

Flight Plan is a thriller, which starts as an interesting ride but goes aground in the middle.

I have seen only a few movies of Jodie Foster. Still, if I know that she is part of a movie I'm bound to have high expectations. So, when FlightPlan began I thought 'its going to be something special!'


Kyle Pratt (Foster) is distraught with grief as her husband died in an accident while in Berlin. She arranges to transport his casket in a jumbo jet to New York for the funeral. She boards the plane along with her 6-year-old daughter Julia. It is shown that she is an over-protective mother who doesn't want her daughter to be out of her sight. By the way Kyle Pratt helped design the jet that they are boarding!

Once inside the plane Kyle takes a nap and when she wakes up her daughter is missing. She goes searching and panics when the kid was not found. She seeks the help of flight attendants. They are not really concerned because the plane is large enough for a girl to lose her way. But, after the first round of search Julia is still missing. The pilot asks other passengers to not to leave their seats for an intense search. And instead of all these troubles and some unfortunate incidents her daughter is not found!

As the movie advances we get to know that no one in the plane has ever seen Julia! And there is no record of her boarding! And the pilot gets information from Berlin that the girl was killed along with her father! Every one suspects that Kyle is having a psychological problem. Now, Kyle is having doubts about her own stability. Was Julia just an illusion of her bereaved mind?! She is not sure and she can't trust anyone.


If I explain the rest it won't be a thriller, right? So lets leave it here.

Now, you might think it’s really worth your money. I would say NO! Of course Jodie Foster is unquestionable. She makes us feel or the character. Whatever she does appear natural.….very convincing. FlightPlan got solid backing from Jodie and an intriguing plot. Then what went awry? I mean 'about the film'...not 'in the film'!


For one thing, the best part of a thriller is missing here - a logical explanation for each and every incident and every word spoken. I don't mean that everything should be explained in the end forcefully. Just that, with the given information an average movie-goer should be able to solve all the mystery in the end. This is exactly where the FlightPlan fails. The scriptwriter didn't really apply any commonsense. There are so many loopholes that you can't beleive it had a script! You wanna see Jodie Foster perform? Fine....go ahead! You wanna see a thriller? STOP!!!!

The conclusion: Too many unanswered WHYs and HOWs don't do any good to a thriller.

Categories: Movie, Review, Hollywood, Thriller

Main Meri Patni Aur Woh: Movie Review

“Love comes in all Sizes”

Main: Mithilesh Shukla aka Chote Babu - Played by Rajpal Yadav
Meri Patni: Veena - Played by Rituparna Sengupta
Woh: Akash – Played by Kay Kay Menon

Mithilesh: The university library is my temple and I’m the Pujari there! I adore books and love literature. I was a bachelor at well past my prime. Well, I had my own reasons for not tying the knot. Then one fine day my mother took out her usual ronaa-dhonaa…and my uncle started to push like anything….the pressure became too much and I had to relent. I went along with my uncle to meet a girl named Veena. Even before seeing her I was convinced that she would reject me. I mean…..I’m not handsome….not tall enough….not very smart. Not a guy in whom a girl would see her Prince.

Then I met Veena. And I was very sure that she would reject me. She was so beautiful that I couldn’t stop looking at her. Then we talked and I found her simple and open. She is well read and intelligent. It was a pleasure talking with her. God! I couldn’t stop smiling. I badly wanted to marry her. But, then I know my limits. She deserved a better man.

Veena: I’m a practical girl who has gone through the ladki-dekhna-ceremony for a few times. They will come and see me and say that they liked me. Nobody cared to ask how I felt! Then, this guy with a disarming smile came to see me - Mithilesh. He was such a simple person. He really listened to all that I had to say. Then he said that he really liked me and asked…..you know what?! He asked me to be his friend! Well, I think that’s what had me bowled over. I was in love with this bhola-bhala librarian!

At last Mithilesh and Veena get married and the problems start pouring in on Mithilesh. His wife is very beautiful and it was only natural that every guy – be it his best friend or the milkman – pays a compliment or two. This coupled with his inferiority complex makes life a hell for Mithilesh. But, he somehow manages his “competitors”. But the ultimate bad luck strikes in the form of Akash – Veena’s childhood friend….her chummy-buddy. Akash is everything that Mithilesh aspires to be. Every occasion proves to him that Akash is better suited to Veena than himself. In the end he brakes down utterly.

Well guys….the story of Main Meri Patni Aur Woh is very simple and it doesn’t require much imagination to guess the plot. But, it is the treatment that steals show. The good old, small town of Lucknow is in the background. The city is captured in its day-to-day life mode. The characters are sketched as realistic as possible. The casting is wonderful. It will be ridiculous if I start commenting on Rajpal Yaadav and Kay Kay. Let me just say that they are among my awesome-actors-list. This is the first time I’m watching Rituparna Sengupta. An actress of mettle with a haunting beauty!

I have seen this story before in a great Malayalam movie – Vadakkunokkiyantram. But I won’t say that the story is stolen, because the concept has a universal appeal. Mithilesh can be anyone among us. If you like a slow pace and are not particularly looking for larger-than-life heroes, see this movie. For a change, this will have you walking with a human being and sharing his emotional ups and downs. You will smile and cry with Mithilesh. You may want to yell at him at some point but still think that he was only human.

This movie is like its protagonist – unassuming. Watch it and get struck with the charm of simplicity!

Categories: Film, Movie, Review, Bollywood