Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this 1992 film, about a grizzled old gunslinger-turned-pig farmer who is lured into one last bounty chase. Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman and Richard Harris co-star.
I went into this movie gushing about the other two Eastwood movies I've seen (Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby), low-key but emotionally charged dramas where the characters are real people dealing with larger-than-life issues. I kind of expected Unforgiven to be similar. It was not. We still had a couple of real characters (Eastwood and Freeman, in particular), but I found myself looking at stereotypes with others. Also, I found myself not really caring about the characters -- something that was difficult to do for the previous films.
I felt mostly confused by the film. I wasn't sure who to root for. Eastwood's character is mostly likeable as the reformed outlaw -- until the end. Maybe that was the point. I don't know.
The movie is credited with being the ultimate western -- a commentary on the senseless violence, with a gripping cinematographic command of the western landscapes and locations, etc. etc. I guess I can see that. And I can understand and appreciate the ambiguity of the character's morals. But I don't have to like it.