Sweet movie, engagingly performed, a classic tale well told: an adult set in his ways finds true meaning after becoming a parent. Yet the movie has a modern twist: the child, an oddball, is emotionally damaged as a result of abandonment, a circumstance that surely isn’t new, though the popular recognition of it is (more about this in the Circumstantial Reality commentary below).
Nice performance by John Cusack in a role that suits his low key style. Youngster Bobby Coleman uses his strangled voice to great effect.