Sandra Bullock is Ruth Slater, a woman who has just been released from prison after twenty years for the murder of a sheriff who came to evict her and then five-year-old sister Katie from a home they lived in near Seattle after their mother and father died earlier. The epithet of a police officer killer constantly follows Ruth and in parallel as she tries to adjust to life on the loose again, she will try to get in touch with her sister. But that’s not all. The sons of the sheriff once killed by Ruth cannot come to terms with the fact that she was released earlier than planned and are planning to take revenge on her. What actually happened two decades earlier we are constantly learning from flashbacks from which the mosaic of this dark crime drama based on the British series “Uforgiven” from 2009 agrees over time.
And while American critics weren’t overly enthusiastic about the crime drama directed by German Nora Fingscheit (a very good previous System Crasher), “The Unforgivable” was not such a bad movie in the end. After mostly appearing in some romantic comedies and action movies in her younger days, Bullock, since she entered her fifth decade, seems to have decided to prove that she is a serious actress. She also has an Oscar (The Blind Side), another nomination (Gravity), and although she plays a woman at least ten years younger than her real age, she has almost no make-up and tries to portray as realistically as possible the person who did something so unforgivable. and something that makes it almost impossible for her to reintegrate into society.
It says that “The Unforgivable” has certain problems and at times it seems as if there are two, maybe three films inserted into one. The first is, clearly, about Ruth’s attempt to integrate into post-prison life. The second is a vengeful thriller in which the sheriff’s sons make plans to harm Ruth while the third segment of the plot involves her attempt to persuade a couple who adopted her sister through a lawyer (Vincent D’Onofrio) whom she accidentally met to allow her to meet her again. . A solid cast is gathered here, as John Bernthal, Viola Davis, Richard Thomas, Aisling Franciosi and Will Pullen also appear in episodic roles, and although “The Unforgivable” is certainly not an A-class film, it can pass.
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