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This is the kind of film that could easily be tediously slushy, but Hedges keeps it laceratingly real, with bulls-eye performances from talented actors who are all used to much bigger budgets. Holmes is excellent as the bad girl trying desperately to overcome years of rebellion. But this isn't a simplistic tale of atonement; her family is just as much to blame as she is (maybe more so). Clarkson gives an especially devastating performance as April's acerbic, terminally ill mom. Yes, cancer is thrown into the mix as well, but Hedges never sentimentalises it. In specific and almost offhanded ways, each character must come to terms with the dysfunction, years of bitterness and the idea of impending death. An improvised funeral for a road-killed squirrel ("or maybe it's a raccoon") brings out both submerged emotion and gallows humour. When Mom finally snaps at her annoyingly perfect younger daughter, the comment is triple-edged: "You're making the same mistakes I made and I wish you'd make your own!" The kindness (and pettiness) of April's neighbours recreates a microcosm of multi-cultural New York, echoed in April's hilarious attempt to explain Thanksgiving to the Chinese family downstairs. Yes, the script is a bit neat and tidy--and perhaps too clever for its own good--but Hedges and his cast keep it so firmly grounded that when the emotion does hit at the end it's nearly overwhelming. A wonderful little film you'll want your relatives to see. For all the wrong reasons.