This is not a movie for everyone. Some will enjoy it, some will hate it. It is an honest tale about everyday life. It is not a tale of explosions, murder, cops and robbers, etc. If you don't like character movies, you won't like this one.
It is a very realistic story about wanting to get out of a small blue collar town, but having few options to do so. Edward Burns stars in this movie, but he also wrote and directed the movie too. He plays his part well, as does Lauren Holly. Jon Bon Jovi is not much of an actor, but I do believe this is his best acting effort to date. I would recommend that he continues to take acting lessons in order to get better.
You can't help but like Edward Burns' character (Charlie), as well as Lauren Holly's character (Claudia). Blythe Danner does a great job of portraying Claudia's mother too, and is that sad, pathetic, lonely woman who refuses to believe her husband that left her will never come back. Charlie is the dreamer that had the courage to leave town before (and deserted Claudia in the process), but failed, and has come back again to try to get Claudia to come with him. With her, he believes he can succeed, and realizes he made a mistake leaving her.
Unfortunately, Claudia is together with Charlie's old friend Michael (Bon Jovi), and Claudia doesn't want to be with Charlie after he hurt her by leaving. However, Caludia wants to get out of this town, and Michael doesn't want to ever leave, so they both know their relationship is not going to last. The rest of the story, well, you'll have to see it to see how it ends. But if you like character-based movies that depict a slice of real life, I think you'll enjoy this one.
It is a very realistic story about wanting to get out of a small blue collar town, but having few options to do so. Edward Burns stars in this movie, but he also wrote and directed the movie too. He plays his part well, as does Lauren Holly. Jon Bon Jovi is not much of an actor, but I do believe this is his best acting effort to date. I would recommend that he continues to take acting lessons in order to get better.
You can't help but like Edward Burns' character (Charlie), as well as Lauren Holly's character (Claudia). Blythe Danner does a great job of portraying Claudia's mother too, and is that sad, pathetic, lonely woman who refuses to believe her husband that left her will never come back. Charlie is the dreamer that had the courage to leave town before (and deserted Claudia in the process), but failed, and has come back again to try to get Claudia to come with him. With her, he believes he can succeed, and realizes he made a mistake leaving her.
Unfortunately, Claudia is together with Charlie's old friend Michael (Bon Jovi), and Claudia doesn't want to be with Charlie after he hurt her by leaving. However, Caludia wants to get out of this town, and Michael doesn't want to ever leave, so they both know their relationship is not going to last. The rest of the story, well, you'll have to see it to see how it ends. But if you like character-based movies that depict a slice of real life, I think you'll enjoy this one.