This story begins in the middle, as it does for the main character, Chad. Gaps in the story fill in as you go and the film is deliberately vague as to how the characters relate to one another at first, so paying attention is required if you plan on "getting" the whole thing.
The performances are strong and the story is easy enough to follow with the added challenge of figuring out why the various characters are so irritated. Chad grows to understand how his mother is really the source of much of the drama.
Certain plot points are very convenient, but well played by the actors to make them believable. At one point Chad accidentally uncovers a big "piece in the puzzle". But Hill Harper plays it very naturally and blends it right into the script before you notice its unlikeliness.
The film moves at a respectable pace that still lends itself to the sleepy, nothing-to-do small-town atmosphere that is required to convey the characters' attitudes realistically.
An easy film to watch for adults, definitely boring and inappropriate for the under-sixteen crowd. Good-natured comic relief is in abundance. Even so, it is a bit sentimental and therefore might be cast off as a "chick movie" by younger boys/men.
