Review: "The Unforgivable"

Sandra Bullock is a bonafide movie star that lifts up any movie that she is in, however, The Unforgivable has one too many flaws. It is a personal tale that Bullock does a great job of in an almost unrecognizable role for her, but the direction of Nora Fingscheidt and the script leave a lot to be desired. Beyond Bullock, the film has a star-studded cast including Jon Bernthal, Viola Davis, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The cast is fine, but for such a personal journey, the writer and director put focus on far too many characters leading to a jumbled and rather uninteresting plot.

The plot follows Ruth Slater (Bullock) who is just released from prison after serving a twenty-year sentence for a violent crime against the town Sheriff and attempts to re-enter society even while the town still remembers and resents her for what she did. Ruth must try to put her life back together again all the while, no one seems to be able to forgive her for her past and the horrors she brought on those closest to her. Along the way, Ruth tries to get back to her younger sister who entered the system after her horrible deed. She receives some help from a family that had moved into her old house that forever changed the trajectory of her life and that of her sister.

While it features a simple enough plot, the biggest issue it falls into is the fact that it has one too many characters and takes far too long to get going. Early on the children of the Sheriff are introduced who wants revenge on Ruth for what happened twenty years ago. While their introduction further highlights how a town can struggle to move on from a horrible incident and the stigma and grief it can leave on people, their subplot is rather uninteresting and detracts from Ruth's plight. Another example of this would be the family Ruth discovers that is now living in her old house in John and Liz Ingram. John is a pro bono lawyer who looks at Ruth and wants to help her even at his wife's behest. All of these secondary characters are present as a way to hinder or lift up Ruth, but at times they detract from her too much.

The film has a lot of flaws and most of which come down to the script and how it takes too long to get moving but it really ends strongly. The ending is rather impactful and heart-wrenching thanks in large part to a wonderful scene between Bullock and Viola Davis. This one scene alone lifts up a rather uninteresting and bore of a film, but that's not exactly a good thing. The scene in particular highlights once more that it showcases two terrific actresses with wonderful range, charisma, and charm but locks it to one scene throughout a two-hour-long film. It is a questionable decision that may hit for some audiences and it also may not.

The big draw inevitably for this film will be that of Sandra Bullock, who despite being very charismatic and likable, is very reserved and dour throughout. It isn't a typical role for her which is both a good and bad thing for her. She is unrecognizable in the role with an ever-present scowl that proves she has done something bad, even beyond that you know there is good still inside of her which is the crux of the film to a tee. Do we deserve a second chance, no matter how greivious our acts may be? Even through this up until the ending it is really difficult for the audience to have any kind of empathy for Ruth as she just seems like a depressed troublemaker who will do anything to meet back up with her sister. Once again, the script is its biggest problem and the dialogue, in particular, suffers the worst with some outright laughable lines. The film may find its fans but overall, its is largely skippable.