David (Jesse Plemons) is a gay NY TV writer. His pilot gets cancelled and he moves back home to Sacramento to care for his mother (Molly Shannon) with terminal cancer. His father (Bradley Whitford) is the only one in the family refusing to accept his homosexuality. There are his two younger sisters. It's a tough year as his mother slowly deteriorates.There is a sense of easy quiet improvisation about the movie. It could laud one to sleep until it reveals its devastating heart. There are some real heart-breaking scenes. It's hard not to feel for this family. I do wish for more of David's relationship and not have the breakup. The dating scene feels like forced comedy. I just want Zach Woods to come out to California to meet his dad. I want more heart and less forced comedy. There is that super sad scene with David's friends in New York. There are some really great real scenes. There are lots of familiar faces doing small roles. It's a solid indie.

David (Jesse Plemons) while being gay, is an unsuccessful comedy writer. He travels from NYC to Sacramento to be with his family and dying mother Joanne, (Molly Shannon) who has Leiomyosarcoma Cancer. David's father (Bradley Whitford) has never accepted his son being gay, a topic they avoid, but eventually does surface, as his being gay is the other half of the story. His two sisters help out (Madisen Beaty, Maude Apatow.) The film opens up as it ends, rather sadly. The first half of the film has some light moments and laughs, but about half way through it turns into a serious drama that is nearly all sad, a mild tear-jerker. Acting was good. The script was top notch, for what it was, but had less appeal to me.Guide: F-word, MMsex, brief nudity.

Brilliant little movie that is sad and funny and seems almost improvised. A collage of the last year in the life of the "matriarch" of a family. Jesse Plemons plays David, a son who is having the worse year of his life. His dreams of being a comedy writer are not coming true, he's broken up with his boyfriend of five years, his father won't acknowledge he's gay even after ten years, and his mother is dying, Sounds pretty dreary, huh? And it is so sad to watch Molly Shannon as the mother as she slowly dies and deals with the ravages of chemotherapy and the depression that life is going on on on without out her. And yet this little gem is out-standing. There are so many little moments that say so much about life, growing, family, acceptance, reaching out, discovery, and more. One scene after another that tells the story *of* life. From beautiful to silly to painful to triumphant. The short short scene where David tries to order three medium chocolate shakes without whipped cream—and then you have to be paying attention to see him sit down with his parents with three shakes—with whipped cream. This movie really is something I will have to watch again. The final shot is what gave me hope—that life, no matter what, does go on, and maybe, just maybe, it will be okay.

I made the decision to watch this because of the hype and talk of Molly Shannon's performance. She was undeniably powerful. However, Jesse Plemons also surprised me in his best performance yet. Incredibly authentic, heartfelt, and lived-in, it's him showing the kinds of dramatic chops that he has and he more than delivers. It's been great to see his transformation from his earlier roles and to see him gaining more and more prestige with the types of smart choices he has made in terms of roles. I cannot wait to see more from him. Overall, the film was very effective. It's simple, but its themes are timely and they hit really chose to home. Not as raw as last year's James White, but instead it has something else to offer.