And now she's gotten their daughter to hate him too. Fortunately, the teenage son knows about the truth, so the blame isn't all placed on Jeff Daniels. Ex-wife Cynthia Sikes got the children and the house that he bought before they were married, and he just pays the bills. The film doesn't really give us much details about the reason the marriage broke up. In fact, a flashback scene shows them happy at Halloween and all of a sudden, it's revealed that the divorce was very bitter and he really doesn't want to go to his sister's wedding, knowing that she'll be there. What is unaware of is the fact that sites and the kids have moved in with mom Cloris Leachman and dad Tom Allen, a drunk whom Daniels is embarrassed by.
There's also Judith Ivey as the wife of the man Daniels accidentally ran off the road, and when he finds her on the side of the road, Daniels picks her up and makes a play for her which goes sour when he accidentally destroys her bridesmaid dress. At this point, it becomes difficult to feel sorry for anybody in Daniels' family outside of Leachman and her grandson, but there is so little detail provided that the audience has a hard time even getting to know them let alone be interested in their situation.
This film seems to have had hardly any showings, and the problem is in its script and the direction. Certainly the country setting is beautiful, starting with the house that Leachman lives in, but the lives of the characters are so messed up that nothing about it becomes even remotely humorous. It's a great cast completely wasted, playing neurotics that on paper might have seemed interesting, but it's another case of writing where just because you put these incidents down on paper doesn't mean that they're going to seem real. Good casting go for Daniels and the actor playing his son as they really do look as if they were related.
There's also Judith Ivey as the wife of the man Daniels accidentally ran off the road, and when he finds her on the side of the road, Daniels picks her up and makes a play for her which goes sour when he accidentally destroys her bridesmaid dress. At this point, it becomes difficult to feel sorry for anybody in Daniels' family outside of Leachman and her grandson, but there is so little detail provided that the audience has a hard time even getting to know them let alone be interested in their situation.
This film seems to have had hardly any showings, and the problem is in its script and the direction. Certainly the country setting is beautiful, starting with the house that Leachman lives in, but the lives of the characters are so messed up that nothing about it becomes even remotely humorous. It's a great cast completely wasted, playing neurotics that on paper might have seemed interesting, but it's another case of writing where just because you put these incidents down on paper doesn't mean that they're going to seem real. Good casting go for Daniels and the actor playing his son as they really do look as if they were related.