Synopsis
The semi-autobiographical story centers on the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced by an unexpected tragedy.
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Cast
- Ryan ReynoldsMichael Waechter
- Willem DafoeCharles Waechter
- Emily WatsonJane Lawrence
- Julia RobertsLisa Waechter
- Hayden PanettiereYoung Jane
- Carrie-Anne MossKelly Hanson
- Cayden BoydYoung Michael Taylor
- Ioan GruffuddAddison
- Shannon LucioRyne
- Chase EllisonChristopher Lawrence
Recommendations
- 58
The A.V. Club
An ending that suggests reconciliation and forgiveness isn't just unearned, it's bewildering, given the wretched behavior we've seen; it implies that the entire story was filtered through some unidentified unreliable narrator who wanted to take the higher ground while still harboring a serious grudge. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The screenplay shows signs of being inspired by personal memories that still hurt and are still piling up in Michael's mind. Fair enough, but the film doesn't sort this out clearly, and we experience vignettes in search of a story arc. - 40
Boxoffice Magazine
As tales of troubled families go, it may have aspirations to be like "Ordinary People," but it falls way short. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
Dennis Lee comes up empty. Kids, parents, siblings, an aunt and an estranged wife all bicker and yell, but the noise cancels itself out. The movie is one long argument, tiresome and repetitive, that produces more heat than light. - 40
Variety
Clumsy melodrama, which looks and sounds no better than an average made-for-cabler. - 40
Los Angeles Times
There's a strange sort of diffidence that seems to inhabit Dafoe and Roberts' performances, and the disconnect between the two Janes is simply insurmountable. - 25
Slant Magazine
The actors are left to go through the motions of a sterile script that director Dennis Lee tries to bring to life not through, for example, Watson's brilliant capacity for facial nuance, but through canned artifice. - 20
Time Out
A completely incoherent mess.
