Kenny (McKidd) is a high-flying Edinburgh journalist on the case of a doctor (Laurenson) accused of assisting the suicide of a patient with the help of a Swiss agency called AfterLife. While pursuing an exclusive interview, Kenny gets a call that his mother (Duncan) has sprained her leg and needs him back home in Ayreshire to help care for his feisty little sister Roberta (Sage), who has Down's Syndrome. Of course, fitting Roberta into his busy life isn't easy, and subsequent events force the entire family to make some difficult decisions.

In the sibling relationship and the road trip Kenny and Roberta take at one point, the film is very reminiscent of Rainman, forcing Roberta's brother to step up to his family responsibilities. But there are other things going here as well, and until the main plot kicks in this is a lively, funny film that realistically blends urban stress with honest humour. So it's a pity that when the main narrative begins it feels overly constructed, full of coincidences and slightly too-clever connections (Roberta is a gifted artist; Kenny's girlfriend, nicely played by Henderson, runs a gallery).

What makes it watchable is the emotional core of the story and people. This is perhaps McKidd's finest performance--energetic and impatient, thoughtful and sexy. And his interaction with each of the other characters is meaningful and involving. Duncan is terrific as their spiky, stubborn mother; and Sage (who actually has Down's) is a real find, delivering an astonishing turn that's both absolutely hilarious and able to connect with us on a deeper level. This human interaction is what makes the film so engaging--and why it has won several festival awards. The characters' inner journeys are compelling and revealing. So if Gibb's script tries far too hard to interconnect them all and put them through the wringer, she can be forgiven.