Follows the story of widowed father Ray Weiler (Harvey Kietel) trying to make it as a con artist in the 1950's. The story is told from the point of view of his daughter Sonya (Fairuza Balk) as she tries to struggle through her unenviable life while protecting her younger sister Greta (Elizabeth Moss) from their harsh environment. There's also the mandatory appearance by Vincent D'Onofrio, playing Sonya's English teacher who's actually more of a father to her than Ray ever was.
Balk and Kietel are great in this. Kietel did the slimy, overbearing father role better than I thought he would. Balk was also very good as his disillusioned daughter; they had good dad-kid chemistry, in a disfunctional sort of way. I thought the script and story were great, too. It was very real, like it could have been based on someone's memoirs. Balk's monologue right before the credits role is the perfect ending for this sort of story. A film worth renting.
