Rob Grayson Watching this film for the second time I found it wasn't as good as i'd initially remembered. Vince Vaughn is excellent in a straight dramatic role and his performance really carries the film, his interaction with his son is the main selling point. Joey Lauren Adams, although not given a whole lot to do, is very charming but remains two dimensional. Monica Potter does OK with a fairly thankless role but like Adams, her character's moods and motivations are never really explored. As a examination of the relationship between father and son the film does its job, however the various subplots are neglected and give the feeling of being there solely to pad the runtime.Overall not a bad way to spend an hour and a half, just don't expect to be blown away by it.

Amy Adler Russ (Vince Vaughn) has moved to a little town on the prairie. Once a hotshot Chicago lawyer, he lost his job when his wife took off and left him the sole provider for his five year old son. Now a country lawyer with a big house and yard, Russ and wee Calvin are learning to adjust. Calvin is making friends and loves the wide open spaces while Russ starts dating a nice veterinary assistant named Beth (Joey Lauren Adams, looking very lovely). But, unhappily, the ex-wife, Kate (Monica Potter) suddenly returns and wants time with her son, messing with Russ's mind. Then, too, Russ believes he needs a higher profile job to feel complete. How will it all end? This is an excellent movie about a single-parent father and his young son. But, alas, the film's cover and description lead one to believe it is a love triangle story, with hardly a mention for the darling little boy. Not so. The movie is about finding out what is important in life and what is not, with most of its footage devoted to the special relationship between a parent and a child. Vaughn is excellent as the caring father, just excellent. If you are a fan of his comedic talents, you might be surprised by the depth of his acting range. Adams is likewise very attractive as a small town girl with a big heart while Potter delivers a fine performance in a thankless, complex role. The rest of the cast is up to par as well, the costumes well-chosen and the grassland setting most beautiful. In short, you may never have heard of this film but it is richly rewarding and deserves a large audience. You will not be in a "high and dry" situation if you bring this film home tonight.

jldmp1 The tone comes from "Kramer vs. Kramer" (marital disintegration, child used as a weapon), with extractions from "Doc Hollywood" (the attachment to the setting).There's no disguising this as anything other than Vaughn's star vehicle...that said, he accomplishes the job. Part of the reason these movies exist is for producers to figure out if they've got a leading man with presence and appeal -- here, they do.What they got right: the center of this is the father-son dynamic, not the common date movie. Oh, it has all the requisite date movie parts: a romance is established, something drives the couple apart, they are reconciled at the end and we cheer -- but this movie is smart because the adornments of the romance are subservient to the center, not the other way around. There is no offensive melodrama.What they could have improved: cinematically, there could have been more elements of interest. Kansas is a scenic place, as I know from my own travels there. The most interesting element here is the house, a fine example of a Folk Victorian, circa 1910. At the finale, there was a huge opportunity to use the landscape and apply a visual reinforcement to the narrative (coming home) -- disappointingly, it never came to pass -- not even one sunflower to admire.

SnoopyStyle Russell Durrell (Vince Vaughn) moves to rural Kansas with his son Calvin after getting fired as a trial lawyer in Chicago. His wife Kate (Monica Potter) abandoned them leaving the family shattered. Russell got a job working for his school friend and is coaching the high school basketball team. Noah is one of his troubled players. Russell starts going out with Noah's older sister Beth Ward (Joey Lauren Adams). Their lives are further complicated when Kate shows up.This is like Kramer vs Kramer but it doesn't have the same touching emotions. The kid is rather bratty and bitter. It's not unreasonable but it's off-putting. The movie tries to give him some humor with the female anatomy but it doesn't really work. Vaughn has the same feel. The three leads are great. It might be useful to see what happened in Chicago. Something is wrong with this movie but it's nothing glaring.