Cablebot3000
This movie is really one of the best movies I've ever seen. It is highly underrated and needs a higher rating on here. Kathy Bates does really well as a single mother raising six kids. Her emotions and acts are extremely realistic even if they are not likable. I usually don not like family orientated movies, but this one was great. Everything about it is so well done, and if makes you feel and think about what really goes on the world, and what life is really about. A must see if you are fan of movies period. I don't know how anyone could dislike this movie. I rate it 8/10. Rated PG for some mild language and violence in a family drama
moonspinner55
Kathy Bates is likably feisty portraying a widow with six kids who struggles to give her family a decent life in 1962 Idaho. Well-intentioned family film is hurt overall by a corny narration, episodic story structure and plot contrivances. The performances, however, are quite strong, particularly by Edward Furlong as the eldest of Bates' children. Tony Bill directed with compassion (he's a sentimentalist at heart) but many of his big scenes go from gritty to gooey in record time. Not very memorable, and not a great showcase for Kathy Bates' versatility as an actress, but still a decent film that will probably play better on television than it did in theaters. ** from ****
yogasuz
I know a lot of folks talked about this movie being so heartwrenching, and at time a tear jerker, but this movie is as close to my childhood as I can imagine. We weren't quite as poor, but I really grew up in a half-finished house and we were pretty tight on money. We never finished our house, but my mom sent three kids to damn good colleges and private schools while supporting us on a teacher's salary.And Kathy Bates nailed it just right. I think that this movie portrays a lot of things about people who are struggling to get by, and it does it in a way that is very evenly balanced. I mean, her character is mostly sympathetic, but she shuts people out too. She's proud to a fault. She wants so much to do it all on her own, that she doesn't seem to realize just how much help she needs. That sense that she is all alone in it; that's how we felt. I'm sure that's how my parents felt. I liked how she found friends who knew how to handle her pride and still help her. I loved this movie but it is hard for me to watch! I never got nails for Christmas, though!I think the bit about the disclaimer that this is all fiction is just the standard CYA language the lawyers put in at the end of every movie. There's lots of novels that are "fiction" that are true.
crowbar-2
An excellent performance by the entire cast. Kathy Bates as a single mother facing the many odds that seem to conspire to prevent her from making a home for her family. Especially memorable was the Christmas morning scene.
AD
