A tough life gets tougher when the three children of a single mom are scheduled to be sent to separate foster homes after her untimely passing.
To stay together, the older boy plans a daring, high risk escape to find a distant lost uncle- their only remaining next of kin.
Their trek takes the three fearful runaways on a chase through the desert in a classic beetle, penniless, hungry, desperate, terrorized by delinquents and too young to drive, hunted by the ever threatening civil authorities.
What the movie lacks in acting and plot realism, it makes up for in the honest human need to be a part of a fulfilled and complete family- even if that family is cobbled together with spare parts of broken lives.
Sure, the ending is forced and too over-dramatic for the critical movie goer, but every heart beats the same cry for family togetherness and belonging.
With all its weaknesses, I still give this movie a strong recommendation.