Many movies today teach us one thing. We should listen to the older generation for their insight, wisdom, and general humanity. They also teach us that bullies don't win, parents are far from perfect, and that kids are misunderstood. That is the case with Charlie (Kevin Zegers), a teenaged punk who is on the verge of being expelled for stealing an older woman's purse. Principal James Caan tells him he will not be expelled if he goes to work for the woman, Mrs. Ritchie (Gena Rowlands) who has raised two handicapped sons (one adopted), and has the most beautiful garden. Mrs. Ritchie is not your typical eccentric. She is the prototype of one of the most popular stage and screen personalities-the Earth Mother. At first, Charlie is annoyed by Mrs. Ritchie's eccentricities, but as his home life with horrible parents collapses into hell on earth, he finds life with Mrs. Ritchie to be the answer to a prayer he didn't know he had. Of course, he can't avoid dealing with his seemingly horrible parents, but Mrs. Ritchie subtly teaches him without his knowing it how to grow up and become a better person.
On the surface, this sounds like an outstanding and heartwarming drama, and it is, as long as Gena Rowlands' Mrs. Ritchie is on screen. The domestic life Charlie faces with his parents and younger brother and sister is sometimes too depressing to watch, and rather than raise sympathy, it only creates anger. The tensions between the parents is only briefly explained and given a climax in the most absurd manner that increases that frustration. There is a scene involving the mother and a dog that is so vile that the temptation is there to turn the movie off altogether. But, if you do, you will miss the wonderful moments with Rowlands, and a fine performance by young Kevin Zegers who does succeed in showing how Charlie has turned around.
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