It featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I may not have recognised the stars names, but it doesn't matter, it sounded worth trying, from director Bill Forsyth (Gregory's Girl). Set in the 1950's, in the Pacific Northwest, after being abandoned by their mother, sisters Ruth (Sara Walker) and Lucille (Andrea Burchill) wind up living with their eccentric aunt Sylvie (Christine Lahti). They get on for quite a while, but eventually Lucille can't take the eccentric lifestyle much longer and moves out, but Ruth sticks with Sylvie, even after a flood spoils quite a bit. The relatives want Ruth to get the best out of life, and life with Sylvie might not be doing her any favours, so Sylvie retorts by wanting to live on the road again, taking Ruth with her. That's about all I could grasp I'll be honest, not that I didn't get it all. Also starring Anne Pitoniak as Aunt Lily, Barbara Reese as Aunt Nona, Bill Smillie as Sheriff, Wayne Robson as Principal, Margot Pinvidic as Helen and Georgie Collins as Grandmother. Walker and Burchill were pretty good as the sisters, but I think the key reason I would watch something like this again is because of the curious but charming scene-stealing performance by Lahti, I suppose it is a must-see book-based comedy drama. Very good!

hard to put this film into words, it is so vivid you can almpst feel the cold air of spokane winter in its scenes. The auntis not 'unstable' she is played to perfection by lahti, who is so real in the role it is absolutely scary. she , along with the oldest girl, are in their own world for survival from some extremely crazy tragic events. The flood house scene and railroad tracks and 'girls week off by the lake from school' are classics. The mother's final scenes and scary music interlude haunts forever. This even inspired my trip on a train up to spokane.It shows the eldest girl staring at her shoes, and we think of how much childhood is to lose, and how overwhelming it is , the possibility of a relative losing custody, that we will do anything t o preserve some happiness, childhood ONLY comes once, and the heavy Grey sadness these girls have is unbearable. The neglectful aunt who collects brown old newspapers to the rooftops. all classic showings of those who ride the train rails and what MAKES us hobos. Drifting our hands out of the boat in the midnight lake

great film, but probably the most misrepresentative ad campaign i've ever seen for a movie. this is NOT a comedy. Christine Lahti's Sylvia is NOT a one dimensional free-spirit. she is disturbed, as is the entire family. this translates perfectly from the book, as does the film's look and emotional atmosphere.as for the opinion that Sylvia is a Pied Piper, that's just wrong. she could care less if anyone follows in her path. it just so happens that her niece is seduced by virtue of what i would interpret as instinct. the family has a long history of breaking from the norm, much to its detriment. the niece is merely fulfilling her filial destiny.to say that the story presents a polemic about nonconformity shortchanges the viewer from the complexity of emotions that it evokes. there is no argument. this is just the way things turn out for these folks. and in my opinion, the ending leaves us questioning, just as it does in the book, how much control we have over destiny.

'A Tidy Comedy'? Anyone who even *smiled* during the screening of this film needs quality psychiatric help.And I say this as a huge fan of Bill Forsyth. I have seen all of his films, and I spent a great deal of effort tracking down this particular one. Having finally found it, I have to say, it's little wonder that it isn't widely available--it is DIRE.Every director makes a few dud movies, but Forsyth's less brilliant films are still very watchable and above average (e.g. Breaking In). This however, is Bill Forsyth's worst film by *two* orders of magnitude--it's hard to believe he even had anything to do with it. It is *entirely* without merit: affected cardboard acting; excruciatingly boring, uneventful plot; superfluous, meaningless dialogue... just pointless... *pointless*... a complete waste of time! I cannot berate this film enough! In fact, the only thing that kept me going throughout this masterpiece of uninspired tedium (it took me about four sittings to watch it all the way through) was the prospect of giving it the richly deserved roasting that I now submit. I cannot believe that Forsyth read the (justly) obscure book upon which this film is based, and thought it would make an interesting (or even bearable) film--and if the film is anything to go by, the book must be absolutely *mind-numbing*.There's no point in giving a detailed "intelligent" critique of this film--it would be a waste of time. This film is a non-entity. It's like a particularly dull episode of The Waltons, with John Boy's monotonous narrative voice-over replaced by that of the even more robotic Ruthie.It defies belief that all the other reviews of this film are highly positive, the most scathing comment being that it was "uninspiring". Uninspiring? Try: *soul-destroying*. But the plot was only mildly depressing compared to the actual severe depression induced by the complete viewing experience. I have to admit, I experienced a real sense of uplifting *joy* when finally it was all over.I expect that, to the *insane* reviewers who actually enjoyed this film, the intervention of the town's "concerned citizens" at the end might be considered the heartless act of interfering busybodies. I only wish that people of a similar ilk had interfered with the making of this abominable waste of time. Fans of Forsyth: avoid like the *Black* Plague.