From Sam Mendes, director of American Beauty, comes a quirky film that feels more like it was inspired by the Coen brothers.

Burt and Verona find themselves in their thirties ready to grow some roots and start a family. The only problem is, they don't know exactly where (geographically speaking) to start breaking ground on this new life. They scratch down a handful of cities where they visit friends and relatives, seeing if the vibe is right.

Very well acted and directed, the production nestles nicely into a sweet rocking motion between humor and heart. The leads are warm, fuzzy, funny and very likeable. In fact, these dynamics so charm audiences that minimal faults in the script and/or realization may very well go unnoticed.

There's only one scene that falls short of realization. In Montreal, a group of adopted kids are meant to steal away our loving couple with a beautiful magic. We can see that the couple feels the magic, but it doesn't quite enchant audiences as I'm sure the filmmakers had hoped.

The other fault lies in the scripting. Unfortunately, I cannot elaborate without spoiling. Suffice to say, the film's resolution/close lacks resound because the script did not effectively set it up. There were a few excellent scenes that prepared us, but there needed to be more. That said, I really enjoyed the emotional climax and would have rather the film faded to black while the leads lay on their backs in the backyard on the brother's trampoline.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --