Post by Vits on Jan 1, 2022 14:32:31 GMT
Is THE UNFORGIVABLE better or worse than UNFORGIVEN, the mini-series it's based on? It's... complicated. The plot is the same in both cases, but I found the movie to be more enjoyable for the most part. It's 20 minutes shorter, so the pacing is more adequate (even though this continues to be a story that could've been told in 60, maybe 80 minutes, had it not been for the subplots that go nowhere). Plus, David Fleming and Hans Zimmer's music score is quite good, and these incarnations of the characters are more interesting thanks to certain details in their dialogue and their actions. However, this adaptation starts to feel inferior during the last part. You see, a woman named Ruth Slater is released from prison, while a man named Steve Whelan wants revenge.
5/10
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He knows that Ruth is searching for her sister Katie, so he tries to kidnap her... except that he mistakes Katie for her adoptive sister Emily. In the previous version, Ruth would simply stare at Katie from afar because she didn't have to courage to approach her (the arrest had happened when Katie was very young, so she didn't know who Ruth was). However, Emily's abduction forced Ruth to talk to Katie. From this point on, different people who were connected through Ruth started to call one another. All of this gave these few scenes some extra adrenaline. After Emily was saved, Ruth and Katie finally had a normal conversation. Since so many things had happened in a short time span, it was natural for Katie to not be completely sure what to say, but she made it clear that she understood the situation and that she was willing to let Ruth in her life. This time around, Katie and her adoptive parents don't find out about the kidnapping until Ruth is already with Emily and Steve. And after Steve's arrest, Ruth and Katie reunite and there's no awkwardness. That's right: Something as important as Katie discovering and accepting the truth happens off-screen. And there's less ambiguity in regard to their relationship. Do they at least greet each other and exchange some cheesy lines? No, they hug without saying a word. Yes, it's usually better to convey emotions through visuals, but it makes no sense here. It's supposed to be a sweet moment, but it doesn't feel earned. As you can see, the negative changes are the minority, but they stand out more, because they eliminated the memorable moments of an otherwise boring experience. That being said, I must praise the flashback that shows Ruth's arrest at a diner. She makes sure Katie doesn't face the window and then goes outside to surrender, unlike the mini-series, where she tried to run from the cops, even though Katie was still at the table. It felt out-of-character for her to do that.
5/10
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