I think you have to be an American to enjoy this film. I say that because it deals with a topic like finding yourself and yet didn’t appeal to me very much but the viewers at IMDB really seem to love it. To be perfectly honest, I found it a bit boring.
Okay, it’s about a little family that lives out in the desert in New Mexico. Now, New Mexico has always had a certain distant romantisicm attached to it and some Americans believe the desert can have a life altering impact on you if you stay there. It probably will have an impact on a New York type investment banker who’s used to steel and glass surroundings if that’s what they mean. The impact it can have is probably the American equivalent of the same kind of impact a hill station can have on an Indian.
So the little family consists of a husband named Charlie(Sam Elliot) who is out of work and depressed, his hard working but increasingly frustrated wife Arlene(Joan Allen) and his daughter Bo(Valentina de Angelis). The wife seems to be on tenderhooks because her husband is driving her crazy with the day to day effects of his depression. Also present from time to time is the husbands best friend George(J.K. Simmons) who seems to be a bit slow. The daughter on the other hand is quite sharp, is home schooled, makes it a point to speak out on any topic she finds interesting and even manipulates other people and their conversations especially George whom she spends a lot of time with now that her father is unavailable. She spends a lot of time by herself making up her own games using her imagination, etc.
So life goes on in the desert until one day an IRS man William Gibbs(Jim True-Frost) comes to visit them enquiring about tax returns they hav’nt filed in a few years. His appearance on the family’s land is unique in itself because his arrival coincides with him seeing Arlene in a compromising position and proceeding to get obsessed with her and realising he’s come to a crossroads in his life. His visit is also a breath of fresh air for the curious little girl who desperately needs someone from the ’outside world’ to talk to and relate to.
The visit that’s supposed to last a few minutes takes a lot longer as William proceeds to fall sick in the family’s house and is bedridden. Days later, when he’s alright, and Arlene and he are fixing his car, he comes to a realisation that he has somehow been living a life he did’nt have to live in the way he has. He realises that he’s also been depressed all these years and doesn’t even know why. As he faces the desert sunset he decides to stay with the family and live out in the desert with them and there would be no point in returning to his pointless job. He considers them the luckiest people in the world because they don’t have to worry about money, taxes, etc. This realisation coincides with him finding painting materials that Charlie has rejected and lo and behold, he turns into a painter and spends all his time painting. He has finally found happiness.
And so the movie proceeds. The entire story is narrated from the point of view of the girl who observes Williams transformation and her parents and George changing, all in the span of one summer. When the movie begins, you’re not really sure where it’s going and you’re just getting used to all the characters and waiting for something to happen. That something happens in the form of William. His transformation sets the tone for the remaining part of the movie.
This is definitely not one of the best movies I’ve seen, although the acting is superb all round. Also, a number of different relationships are explored in this film. I don’t think it’s great because it’s not until the very end of the film that you can come up with a summary of what it was about. The rest of the time is just spent meandering along with the storyline. My advise would be to watch it only when you really have nothing to do, or you’re depressed yourself.