The Unforgivable
NETFLIXForgiveness gained and not earned is an interesting angle for any creative medium to take. Except for The Unforgivable, which manages to quash any semblance of interest with a droll and predictable series of thrills spilling over into a capable leading star. Sandra Bullock features alongside Viola Davis as the two try and reclaim some form in a pair of spotty careers. Where director Nora Fingscheidt will hope to adapt all the best terms and colloquial jabs of the miniseries The Unforgivable (based off 2009’s Unforgivable), her exploration of character is malnourished. The meaning behind all the interconnected foibles and failures is quickly forgotten and plays loosely with the style of this genre.
Bullock’s turn as Ruth Slater is an emotionally desperate one. No conveyance of anything but grief. There must be something to balance the tone, a desire to express something beyond self-pity. What The Unforgivable has is an interesting message that fails to break into anything it can offer. A repatriation into society for Slater is the interesting angle Fingscheidt should toy with, but it soon devolves into a lengthy family reunion. Human problems crash into the unnatural dangers of having a mother locked behind bars. Bullock’s character is hard to take seriously when The Unforgivable ramps the tension up so frequently, the scowl never moves away from her face. It is the scenery-chewing romp that 1980s action stars would be better suited for.
But there is little action in this violence-based piece. The Unforgivable has a hard time making anything much of its leading character because Bullock plays her as an empty vessel. Fingscheidt hopes that the attitude of those bit-part characters towards a reformed convict will be enough. It isn’t. Flashing back and forth between the crime that locked her up and the return to the home where it happened is an angle The Unforgivable is insistent on, but never confident in. Slater is presented as the do-good character with a shady past that prevents her from getting stable work. There is never an inclination from Fingscheidt that such a past is forgivable, especially considering how poorly it is explained. There is no doubt that the honesty that comes from Slater is in the right place, but The Unforgivable struggles frequently. Its heart is in the right place, its characters are not.
Vincent D’Onforio and Jon Bernthal find themselves in a middling project once again. The Unforgivable will provide a nice, two-hour distraction from the toils of the working day, but the impression it leaves will be immediately forgotten. Clumsy and uneventful at the best of times, the real issue The Unforgivable tackles is that Bullock plays a character with one emotion. Scowling and upset, that is all there is on offer. A shame too, since there are tender moments within The Unforgivable that depend on the consistency and variety these characters can sometimes offer. Shady moments come to life with just the right tone or setting. There is a real desire in the supporting performers, but they are crashing into the great wall of mediocrity that The Unforgivable is built around.