Synopsis
Jack Slavin is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose, on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen, and her sons, Rodney and Thaddius, to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics makes things difficult for everyone in the house.
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Cast
- Daniel Day-LewisJack Slavin
- Camilla BelleRose Slavin
- Catherine KeenerKathleen
- Ryan McDonaldRodney
- Paul DanoThaddius
- Jason LeeGray
- Jena MaloneRed Berry
- Beau BridgesMarty Rance
- Susanna ThompsonMiriam Rance
Recommendations
- 100
Entertainment Weekly
Miller's theme is innocence, the loss of it, and the reclamation of equanimity in the face of that loss, and the music she makes is haunting. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
Smart and engrossing, if too heavy on the symbolism at times. - 70
L.A. Weekly
One of those passionately atmospheric movies, like Jane Campion's "The Piano," that sounds idiotic on paper, but whose ambiance, charged with eros, rage, regret and optimism, is strangely moving. - 63
Premiere
One of those novelistic independent films more concerned with atmosphere and character than the particularities of narrative, where contemplating the backstory is more satisfying than anything we see. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Shaky story and predictable developments make this an off-key ballad. - 50
Variety
Well-wrought individual scenes and sharply focused acting provide Rebecca Miller's third feature with a measure of gravity, but too much abrupt, even melodramatic behavior and undigested psychological matter leave nagging dissatisfactions. - 50
Village Voice
Day-Lewis is as rooted as an oak in his character and milieu, yet easefully disengaged from the film's pensive histrionics. - 40
Film Threat
Might not have been a bad film if its characters never said anything and some obnoxious visual metaphors were removed.
