Sandra Bullock Goes Against Type In Gritty, Mostly Successful 'The Unforgivable'

Chicago IL

10 December, 2021

3:47 PM

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By Steve Prokopy, Third Coast Review: In a case of "so close you can sometimes see the better movie," The Unforgivable tells the story of Ruth Slater (Sandra Bullock), who is released from prison after serving 20 years for shooting a sheriff who was trying to extract her and her young sister from their family home after their parents died (or otherwise abandoned them). Ruth didn't mean to shoot the sheriff, but that doesn't lessen the pain of his family, and it makes getting out of prison even harder with the local police mildly harassing her at every turn. Ruth's only mission is find out what happened to her younger sister, Katie (now grown and played by The Nightingale's Aisling Franciosi), who is now living with her new adopted parents (Richard Thomas and Linda Emond) and their daughter Emily (Emma Nelson) and has no memory of her life before the shooting. According to her parole officer (Rob Morgan, also in Don't Look Up this week), Ruth isn't allowed anywhere near Katie, but when she meets attorney John Ingram (Vincent D'Onofrio) living in her old family's home, she asks him to help her arrange a meeting between herself and the adoptive parents. In the meantime, she gets a job at a fish processing plant, where her life starts to stabilize to a degree; she even begins a promising acquaintance with a co-worker (Jon Bernthal). Naturally, things start to come apart for Ruth just as they feel like they are looking up. The now-grown sons (Will Pullen and Tom Guiry) of the sheriff Ruth shot are determined to destroy her life, making sure she doesn't get a better job (she trained to be a carpenter in prison and even lines up a job before her potential employer gets a mysterious call from one of the brothers, we assume). They whip themselves into enough of a frenzy that they even start plotting Ruth's death or perhaps the death of someone Ruth cares about. It's an unnecessary layer of drama that The Unforgivable simply didn't need to successfully engage viewers. Ruth's own self-teardown (not to mention the exceptional cast pulled together for this one) is enough to keep us gripped, without actual villains thrown into the mix. German filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt has a fairly decent handle on both Ruth's inner turmoil and the judgment that follows her wherever she goes. There's a late-in-the-film reveal that I admittedly wasn't expecting, but it mostly feels like a copout on the part of the screenplay, clearly done for reasons I won't spoil here. Instead, it feels like a genuine effort is being made not to tarnish Bullock's reputation as a beloved icon. A big part of the reason I liked any part of The Unforgivable is that Bullock dared to sully her good name by playing a cop killer, but when you seemingly undercut that, the rest comes crumbling down quickly. It's a near miss, one that easily could have been such a better work in more confident hands. The film is now streaming on Netflix. Did you enjoy this post? Please consider supporting Third Coast Review's arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know how much we appreciate your support! Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Related Review: Holler Captures the Desperation of a Dying Small Town and a Young Woman's Chance to Break OutJune 11, 2021In "Film" Review: Frank Talk, Tough Memories and All Sorts of Charm in Ask Dr. RuthMay 4, 2019In "Film" Review: Freaky Reinvents the Body-Swap Comedy with a Bloody, Dark and Wicked TakeNovember 11, 2020In "Film" Categories: Film, Review, Screens Tagged as: Aisling Franciosi, Emma Nelson, Jon Bernthal, Linda Emond, Nora Fingscheidt, Richard Thomas, Rob Morgan, Sandra Bullock, Tom Guiry, Vincent D'Onofrio, Will Pullen Post navigation Review: Fictional National Champions Asks Important Questions About a Real-Life Sports Debate Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Third Coast Review is Chicago's locally curated website, specializing in Chicago-area arts and culture coverage. Read more at thirdcoastreview.com