by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
When was the last time you saw Sandra Bullock take on the tough person role? I have not seen Bullock in a film like The Unforgivable. Ruth is a woman who just spent the last 20 years in prison after shooting the sheriff who was trying to throw her and her sister out of their home. Upon release, she must find work, try her luck at a romance, try to find her sister after all these years, and carry around plenty of other baggage. But there are other forces at work who do not believe she has truly paid for what she did — plenty of moving pieces to enthrall the audience!
But that seems to be a LOT of moving pieces, right? Unfortunately, this script doesn’t quite know what to do with all the moving parts it has. Probably one of the most undeveloped and unnecessary aspects is the family of the now-deceased sheriff. Did the audience need a whole complicated backstory for the two brothers and how one might betray the other? Certainly not. The film would have benefited from focusing even more time on the other aspects. Even the sister, Katie, is not shown too much in the film and would have benefitted from more screen time herself. You even have a big actress like Viola Davis, whose character feels completely unnecessary. There are more characters with small roles that feel unnecessary, but at least they fit with the narrative and themes being told. Then there are a few elements in the story that feel contrived and just absurd. There are a few twists and turns that feel like they come about for the sake of scares. The film leans on tropes we expect.
The script may be overstuffed and underdeveloped, but how is the direction from Nora Fingscheidt? The film has a stark and specific look to it. It leans heavily into horror occurrences upon horror occurrences. At times, the tone can be a little overbearing since there are few moments in the film that deliver any sense of levity. Ruth is consistently in a state of sadness or frustration, which matches that tone. There is a crispness to the filmmaking, which does its best to balance out all the narrative threads that the script tries to tackle.
But why do you watch this movie? The acting for sure. Bullock’s performance is steely and tough, which is against the type she usually goes for. She shows some strong emotions at times, including playing off well with Viola Davis (who also delivers. despite being an unnecessary character). Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal each play kinder souls who bring some heart to the film. Richard Thomas and Linda Emond get to shine in one scene with Bullock that is charged with plenty of emotion. Aisling Franciosi (a fantastic young actress) is under-utilized in her role as the lost sister of Ruth. Will Pullen shows promise in his role as the sone of the murdered sheriff, but his character is sent on such an absurd.
Is this going to be the “feel-bad” film of the fall to check out? Netflix has plenty of talent thrown into this drama, but the script lets them down. Too many characters with lackluster writing leaves the audience wanting more from some characters but less from others. There is plenty of promise in this film, but as it turns out, it will leave you at a distance.
Grade: C-
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