A battered woman is forced to run for help to her resentful father in law, igniting past grievances and reopening old wounds in the film “An Unfinished Life,” directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “My Life as a Dog”).

While the title might pointedly refer to the premature death of Griffin, Einar Gylkison’s (Robert Redford) beloved only son and Jean Gylkison’s (Jennifer Lopez) husband, it also applies to the lives of the major characters in this story, most of whom are in various stages of grief over a devastating loss of some kind, as in the case of Einar, Jean, and Mitch (Morgan Freeman), or as in the case of Jean’s prepubescent daughter Griff (Becca Gardner), grief over a life not yet begun.

This film is moody without being heavily angst-ridden, thanks to Redford’s intense performance as a bitter old cowboy, and Freeman’s counterbalancing role as his old friend. Those two fit their roles so well, it’s like they came up out of the ground of the Wyoming ranch the story is set in. They have a rapport sometimes of old friends, sometimes of brothers, sometimes of an old married couple. I had my doubts regarding Jennifer Lopez, especially since she would be acting against two heavy-hitters, but she came up nicely as the desperate daughter in law. The fact that Redford and Freeman had such low key performances anchored her role as well. Gardner, who had to do much of her acting in scenes with Redford, held her own well as his granddaughter.