The Unforgivable
Ruth has just been released from prison after 20 years for the murder of a police officer. Between multiple jobs, where she meets Blake – she heads to her old home where the murder took place.
There she meets new owners John and Liz, and lawyer John agrees to help her find her younger sister Kate – who was given up for adoption following the incident.
Kate’s new family are reluctant, as she is now happy and safe – and has little memory of ‘the incident’.
Meanwhile the family of the officer Ruth killed are unhappy that she is out of jail, and begin stalking her.
Direction
Very bleak and bland in terms of colours – which add to the depressing and serious tone of the film. Especially given once the entire (and somewhat obvious) story is told.
Nora Fingscheidt favours story and narrative over action or —-, which works for what is shown on screen.
Cast/Characters
Sandra Bullock delivers a very fine performance. Her character seems to be broken by the system, and glides through the film with a similar personality.
Viola Davies as Liz, gives another performance where she is typecast as the ‘serious’ with little joy or happiness. While she is a great actress, I do feel every time I see her on screen, she has this type of role – just with in a different place, and different name.
Vincent O’Onofrio is John, who gets the meatier role. He assists Ruth through her journey of reaching out to Kate’s adoptive parents. His performance gave me memories of his Det Goren from his Law and Order days.
Other important characters include Kate herself, however she is actually given an almost tertiary type role – often seen from the side. Kate’s family including her parents and sister have screentime alongside Bullock as they discover she is now free and wants to meet Kate.
Jon Bernthal plays Blake – he gives Ruth the only true hope for a ‘new beginning’. There is a small spark that Ruth is given with Blake, however this is short-lived.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
The film cuts to ‘the incident’ throughout the film, and shows snippets of what occurred. I thought this was done well, as it didn’t show the full story until Ruth reveals it herself.
One of the things that hurt this was there was no reprieve from the dramatic elements. It made it a very hard film to get through, and even the ending twist does not make up for what has occurred throughout.
The fairly obvious ending might be obvious to some, and the way it is revealed on screen (through the flashbacks) is well written. However Ruth is so closed off throughout it felt sceptical that she would reveal the truth to Liz of all people.
The third act, where the family of the slain police officer kidnap ‘Kate’ arc drops all believability from real life. Until this moment, I felt that the ‘stalking’ arc was at least in the realm of reality. When they did this, it made it more ‘Hollywood’. This really hurt what the film was trying to accomplish, and I hated this part of the film.
Score/Soundtrack
There is a very pensive score that just adds more ‘serious’ feeling to the film, where already a depressing colour, performances
Overall
A fairly ordinary melodrama, has some strong performances – especially by lead Bullock. However due to the nature of the screenplay and narrative, it is a hard film to get through.
While I recommend this, it is a rough slog to get through.
3.5/5
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