This is a gentle, low key story about a pregnant 17 year old girl whose mother rejects her, and the people who rise to the occasion and care for her. It's very well cast with America Ferrera (the young actress from "Real Women Have Curves) as the girl, Aidan Quinn and Rachel Griffiths as the high school teachers and Megan Follows (Anne Shirley from the wonderful Sullivan Films production of "Anne of Green Gables") as Quinn's wife. It was lovely to see Marion Seldes on screen again too. The story is predictable, but the writing and acting is lovely. If you like gentle dramas and very real characters, this made for TV (Hallmark Hall of Fame) movie will be worth your time.

I loved the book and I loved the tv version. Every actor was superb. I skipped the Sopranos to watch this and I'm glad I did. Bravo to everyone associated with it. Aidan Quinn was so right as the dad and Brenda from Six Feet Under was perfect as the girlfriend. The three seniors in the story were best of all, the two ranchers and the old lady who dies. I could not get over how moving they were. Then there were the two little boys. They were real, not at all actor-y. The film managed to convey and America so at variance from the cold place many of us experience. It almost made me want to head west. One last thing: the thuggy teenager was also fine as were his repulsive parents. BUT BEST OF ALL was the writing.

I happen to come across this gem of a "made-for-T.V.-movie" while vegetating in a hotel room on a business trip. I was pleasantly surprise to see Rachel Griffth in a Hallmark movie. She and Aidan Quinn lent a jolt of electricity to the story that no other actors could. Geoffrey Lewis turned in a helluva a performance in the role of one of the mentally challenged brothers that come to the rescue of a few of the character in the bitter-sweet tale of fractured life in present-day, rural Colorado. America Ferrara has been blessed with the same fierce but sympathetic spark that made Lili Taylor so brilliant in Dogfight. I recommend this movie not just because it is so good and real but because it is the rare 'good' T.V. dramas that the whole family can watch.

Spoilers... so scroll down to see review...............Yet another lame plot where partners just dissolve and immediately hook up with someone else, effortlessly. Happy ending: a brand new family. I'm tired of seeing "alternative family" movies. Would have been better if he had been a widow, and that's not much better. The cinematography was par to a Hallmark presentation - slow moving, full of props, golden. There were the usual "loveable" characters - two gruff old brothers. The reason I gave this movie a 2 instead of lower is because of the performances of these two old fellows and the best performance of all the actors - the Native American young woman, pregnant, and dealing with some tough issues. The teachers, boring. The other students, boring. The old lady who dies, well, not so boring but definitely too stereo-typical (even more so than the old brothers). The kids are cute, as kids tend to be. . With made-for-tv movies that have slid down the slippery slope to devolve into this washed out stuff, no wonder I belong to a generation that is jaded and cynical. Writers and directors, wise up.