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Robert Redford does his worn and weary cowboy bit in An Unfinished Life, an equally worn and weary yarn from director Lasse Hallström. Jennifer Lopez makes her sad face playing the widow of his long-dead son whose arrival at the ranch churns up an acid mix of suppressed emotions. Cue the clichés and facile metaphors involving broken plates and a caged bear strung together like a sloppy lasso that fails to get a grasp on anything resembling a decent story.

After escaping an abusive relationship, Jean turns up on Einar's doorstep with his granddaughter (Becca Gardner). Her doe eyes and disarming honesty are set against his diehard grumpiness and it's easy to see how the situation will unfold. Observing the gradual thaw of family relations is Einar's bed-ridden ranch-hand, played by Morgan Freeman, who of course can't help but disseminate a few pearls of 'sagely wisdom.' This mostly involves comparing the bear that laid him out to Einar's struggle to let go of the anger and move on...

"CLUMSY SET-UPS AND POOR DIALOGUE"

If the script was any less subtle, the bear in his cage would pick up a pen and spell it out for you - and he might even do a better job than Mark and Virginia Korus Spragg. Fortunately Redford and Freeman have enough natural charm to hold the screen despite the clumsy set-ups and poor dialogue, and as Lopez's bruiser boyfriend, Damian Lewis (Band Of Brothers) injects life whenever he appears, which is sadly not often. Lopez is the weakest link, but even with a quality cast, An Unfinished Life couldn't reach its conclusion soon enough.