This film touches the heart with both laughter and tears, and portrays humanity in a very realistic way, unlike many other films today. Rip Torn's performance of Allen James was absolutely superb (one of the best I've seen from him), and the performances of Dina Korzun and Darren Burrows, as Laura and Michael, were outstanding, as well. The story moves well all the way through and throws in some good humor and a few surprises along the way. I thought the ending was great. I'm not talking about how it ended story wise, but, the way the ending is artistically done. You'll know what I mean when you see the film, as I'm not going to spoil it here. Overall, this was one of the best dramas that I've seen in a long while.