I am one of those Dorothy Allison fanatics. Currently, I am working my way through the book for a second time. Unfortunately, this movie is but an eighth of the book, and in my opinion, a very poorly constructed eighth of a fantastic novel. Before watching any movie based on a novel by Dorothy Allison, you should read the book. Her books are highly emotional, and this movie is just emotionally confusing. These emotions are selfish, and geared more towards my own irritation, rather than emotions felt for the circumstances of the characters. Unlike my experiences with the novel, I could not develop any sort of personal familiarity with the characters. What does that mean? It means that this all-star cast of magnificent actresses and actors have wasted their time on an overall ineffective portrayal of complex characters with complex problems. The process of adaptation was a complete failure in my opinion, and if our lives were dependent upon it, we'd be dead!

I don't really understand why this is so lowly rated as of the time of my review. This is a serious drama, competently directed and believably acted by all. The story held my interest and the wonderful Kyra Sedgwick delivered another good performance. As is usual for me, I haven't read the book and knew very little about the story before watching. Unusual for me, I watched it despite the low rating here and I am glad I did. I am sure the character played by Kyra Sedgwick couldn't be farther from who she really is but she sure knew what she wanted to do with this part.If you want comedy or action, other films should be considered. If want to think about life, love, parenthood, and dying, this one should hold your interest.Chris

Although this film has received a lot of criticism in here, (as I have noticed) in my honest opinion, I liked it! My initial thought when the movie started was: "Oh my god, it's another one of those sappy, bad quality movies, you normally see on the Hallmark channel, (which I was watching at the time) but a few minutes into the beginning I got more interested and ended up watching all of it. Start to finish. I will however give a user right in one thing. The scene with the mother when she is driving back home, is far to long and uneventful, but maybe it was intended, to get people to focus more on the later events in the movie. Things I liked about the movie: It had humor. Great actors like Aidan Quinn, and Kevin Bacon, appeared in it. There were awesome music featured in it, and I especially liked how you had to wait to see the flashbacks, so you could understand the movie. It added excitement! The movie is supposed to be gloomy and unforgiving, which is kind of the theme word for the movie! I would like to name movies who resembled it, but I actually haven't seen a movie which resembled this one. It's also funnier than it would seem for those who haven't seen it!

I saw `Cavedweller' at the Tribeca Film Festival. I haven't read the book, but this movie is only a small part of the book.Kyra Sedgwick once again proves herself to be a very versatile actress, she's amazing in this movie as her character struggles with her emotions. All three daughters do a wonderful job, but Regan Arnold stands out as the fish-out-of-water youngest daughter, moved suddenly from L.A. to small-town Georgia. Aidan Quinn is very strong in a rather ugly role. Kevin Bacon has a bit part but is wonderful, as always. Jill Scott, in what I believe is her acting debut, is wonderful and provides some needed light-hearted moments in the midst of all the heavy drama. Jackie Burroughs is terrific as the tough-as-nails grandmother.If you want to watch a romantic comedy, then this movie is not the one for you. If you want to watch a solid drama with excellent writing and acting, this movie will leave you more than satisfied.