Was this film ever released?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — An Unfinished Life
belleandguaca — 19 years ago(April 28, 2006 09:03 PM)
Was this film ever released in theaters? I was really confused to see a movie with such big name actors that I could not recall being in the theater or have seen any ads for. Was I sleeping, or what?
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soapergirl — 12 years ago(March 28, 2014 01:27 PM)
That's a good question. My guess would be that the studio heads thought the movie was a turkey and weren't willing to put the big bucks into publicizing it more or debut it on many screens! That's a real shame, because I consider it to be a sweet little gem. No, it's not Oscar material, but I felt the actors/producers made a good effort, and it's a decent enough movie! I enjoy watching it.
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JohnnyWeissmuller — 12 years ago(March 31, 2014 07:36 PM)
An Unfinished Life was released in September of 2005 and hovered around the number ten position at the box office for over two months. It's returns were generally poor, grossing just $8.3 million. It fared ever so slightly better on the international market, garnering a further $10 million. However, the film cost around $30 million to produce and seems to have been stuck in limbo when the Weinsteins ended up in a dispute with Disney over Farenheit 9/11 and ultimately left Miramax to start the Weinstein Company. This probably hurt the kind of distribution An Unfinished Life may otherwise have received, whilst I believe this to have been a film that could have been an Oscar contender in many areas. It's a splendid movie and may have found a strong awards season campaign under Harvey Weinstein had he been involved in the film's distribution or marketing. Jennifer Lopez's credentials had also taken a bashing at the time due to the never ending press attention surrounding her and Ben Affleck, whilst the critical and commercial battering that Gigli received would have stopped a lesser actress in her tracks. Shall We Dance and Monster-in-Law subsequently done great business after Gigli, then An Unfinished Life couldn't get out of the blocks. So, again, I'm putting this down to the issues between the Weinstein's and Miramax, which surely proved detrimental to An Unfinished Life's exposure. Interestingly, An Unfinished Life has earned almost $21.5 million from DVD sales in North America, which is very respectable. Especially for a movie that didn't even earn ten million dollars at the domestic box office. Much more successful and popular films have earned little more on the same format, e.g., True Grit, Argo and Flight. It also has a very good rating here on IMDB, which is great to see given some of the vitriole against Lopez by the usual members of the peanut gallery. So this gem of a film has found an audience in some ways and seems to have garnered the kind of appreciation it always deserved.
NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR! -
soapergirl — 12 years ago(April 01, 2014 04:07 PM)
Thank you JohnnyWeissmuller for your take on this film, and the backstory behind it which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It definitely explains a lot!
Maybe one of these days, TPTB will consider re-releasing it, and giving it another shot with the kind of studio backing it deserves, which just might give J Lo's career a much needed shot in the arm.
You just maybe right that with the kind of backing, of someone who would know how to market it, that it could have been a real Oscar contender. I've seen far lesser (mediocre) movies receive kudos at Oscars time that have left me shaking my head in bewilderment! But then, I'm sure there's a lot of manipulation and jockeying for position behind the scenes that the public never sees!
I thought Jenifer Lopez showcased some real acting chops in it. It sad, that she doesn't seem able to garner the kind of serious attention and roles she deserves. Sadly, in the past, the actress has been given some dreadful material to work with considering the caliber of acting ability she showed in this movie.
It's a real pity and the girl who played her daughter in it, was nothing less than amazing and just my 2 cents, but I felt both actresses worked well together, and knocked it out the ball park. I could believe the situation as shown! Thank you again! -
JohnnyWeissmuller — 12 years ago(April 02, 2014 04:38 AM)
The girl who played the young daughter was really good in many ways she's the emotional core of the movie. Lopez is such a fine actress, though, and she's proved that in numerous roles. She's been less prolific on screen the past seven or eight years, but with a music career and kids and other ventures she does an awful lot more than most I'd gather. But think she's in the process of acting more often again, and with interesting material. At her popular peak a decade ago, it was star names who could make a movie at the box office; now, it's mostly franchises, so I don't expect massive hits in the near future, but hopefully the projects she's doing afford her abilities plenty of opportunity. Plus, she's secured a deal for a television series in which she'll star; that's a smart move and it shows confidence in her that it's been picked up. I can't forsee An Unfinished Life getting another box office release, but it's out on Blu-ray now and may find more of the reputation it deserves as it's discovered as being a bit of a lesser-known gem. And sometimes those are the best.
NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!