Skip to footer

'Unfinished Song' leaves no tear duct untapped

( PG-13 ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

The movie may tug on the heartstrings a little too much, but Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave are riveting as the film's leads.

|
Nick Wall/The Weinstein Company/AP
'Unfinished Song' stars Terence Stamp (r.) and Gemma Arterton (l.).
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

“Unfinished Song” is one of those movies that leaves no tear duct untapped. But because it does so in ways that are meant to be classy and not schmaltzy, it will probably be taken a lot more seriously than it deserves to be. Still, the director, Paul Andrew Williams, at least had the good sense to cast Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave as his leads. Who can possibly look away from those two whenever they’re on screen?

Stamp’s Arthur is a crusty pensioner on the outs with his son (Christopher Eccleston). Arthur’s wife, Marion (Redgrave), has a brain tumor but gallantly rises above her sorrow by belting out ditties with a senior citizen a cappella group. Inevitably the moment comes when Arthur, guided by the group’s alarmingly chipper director (Gemma Arterton), joins the fray – singing Billy Joel’s “Lullaby” no less.

Here’s a valuable moviegoing rule: Just because you use up an entire handful of hankies doesn’t mean a movie’s great. But Stamp and Redgrave are the real deal. Grade: B- (Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and rude gestures.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Unfinished Song' leaves no tear duct untapped
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2013/0621/Unfinished-Song-leaves-no-tear-duct-untapped
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe