DreamWorks SKG, Kurtzman Orci Paper Products, Reliance Entertainment,
Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau, Michelle Pfeiffer, Philip Baker Hall, Michael Hall D’Addario
Sam (Chris Pine) is a high pressure salesman who has just made a serious error in judgement which could cost him his career, when a sudden phone call sends him home to help his mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) to bury his father who suddenly passed away. While settling his father’s estate, he learns a shocking secret. He has a secret, and his father has entrusted him to send a small fortune to his half sister, but when he meets her and her young son, he becomes much more involved than he intended, keeping the money, and the secret that he is her brother. Things get much more convoluted and highly charged as he works through the issues he has with his mother, and with himself in his own life and the problems he faces.
This is a surprising well done drama about families and trust and respect. He learns that his father led a secret life, but he doesn’t know anything about it, so he has a lot of changing to do. Chris Pine does a really good job of playing this role, not going over the top, and not getting sappy and sloppy either. Elizabeth Banks is also very good playing a young single mother who is over her head in problems and debt and challenged by a very precocious young son who seems to always be getting in trouble. This movie has a lot of heart, and is a really good relationship film without the complications of a love story, because they are brother and sister (even though she doesn’t know it till the end). But there is a lot of tension between Sam and his mother as well, not to mention the legal problems he faces. With everything crashing around him, he is searching for his inner self. It’s a very well done family drama that is intense, but funny and sweet all at the same time. The acting is very good, and the story is very well crafted. Once again I came into this film not expecting a lot, and came away with a lot of respect for the film.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
