4/5 Pain is necessary, suffering is optional, or is it?
  by Reader (Boca Raton, FL)
This is a powerful story about loss of people close to us and overwhelming power of grief that can alter course of anyone's life. Walter is a young man in college whose twin sister is brutally murdered. Laura's husband was shot to death by his friend and she is left to care for her deaf teenage son on her own. Both walter and laura belong to different generations and lifestyles, but mutual loss of their loved ones binds them together.

For anyone who believes that pain is necessary part of life, while suffering is optional one has to wonder if they have experienced grief of a loved one that can take over life of any individual. This is a powerful story about two people who find that their loss and love for each other is a way to their own emotional salvation.

Ashton Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer make perfect duo for their roles. It is easy to imagine a young 24-year old man falling for an older woman as beautiful as Laura. Kathy Bates who plays Walter's mother is absolutely amazing in her role of a grieving mother.

5/5 a film about death...and life
  by John N. Fulmore (Payette, Idaho)
I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. The characters were well developed and the performances were well above my expectations. Michelle Pfeiffer played her role with a gentleness and vulnerability that I have rarely seen from her and Ashton Kutcher was perfect in his portrayal of a young man trying to deal with loss...and guilt.

The film tells the story of two families attempting to come to terms with the deaths of significant family members - a father and a sister. And it portrays the various ways we have as humans of trying to cope with the loss that results from death.

The relationships that arise from the attempts to deal with the losses are what makes this story so very precious. I am always surprised at what grows out of grief (based on personal experience) despite the tears and heartache. The emptiness left by our loved ones departure is an emptiness that awaits the arrival of something or someone new...if we only let it.

Great movie, great perfomances, well written script and a tough subject served well by a finely crafted piece of cinematic art.

5/5 A Gem!
  by Bonnie Brody (Fairbanks, Alaska)
This movie was a great surprise. I did not know what to expect and ended up loving it. It is like a small indie flick but it stars three well-known actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, and Ashton Kutcher. I was surprised by what a good actor Ashton Kutcher is.

The movie starts out with a group of people meeting together in a grief support group. Ashton Kutcher's sister has been murdered and Michelle Pfeiffer's husband has been murdered. Kathy Bates plays Ashton Kutcher's mother. Michelle Pfeiffer has a teen-aged son who is deaf. Ashton Kutcher had the potential to be a nationally recognized wrestler prior to his sister's murder. After her murder, he returns home to be with his mother and to watch the trial. He reaches out to Michelle Pfeiffer's son by getting him involved in wrestling. Gradually, Ashton Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer become attracted to each other and begin a relationship that is poignantly sweet and deep.

I highly recommend this movie. It's a gem.

5/5 A beautiful film, better than most theatrical releases
  by Jo Ryan (San Francisco)
I rented this movie on a sort of lark, thinking from the scant, critical reviews I'd read online that it might be an amusing dud where Ashton Kutcher tries to act and can't. Was I ever wrong! This is a beautiful, sensitive and deeply moving drama that had me literally at the edge of my seat by the end of it. Michele Pfeiffer is brilliant, and Ashton Kutcher a fine dramatic actor who reminded me a bit of Woody Harrelson in his portrayal. This movie is better than 90 percent or more of regular theatrical releases, and I can't understand why it went straight to DVD. The supporting cast, including Kathy Bates as a grieving mother, is wonderful; the story, written by the author of the highly acclaimed "The Ice Storm" original and very affecting. It brought to mind both "In the Bedroom" and "Little Children." I'd like to buy it and watch it again. It makes me think Kutcher could have a future as a great leading man.

1/5 This is a terrible movie
  by Jarris E. Wilkins (Charlotte, NC)
I guess the fact that it has 2 reviews as of writing says enough, but honestly, I think Kutcher had a hand in making this movie because it is terrible. The people are all tied up in vengance, anger, and steeped in selfishness. The characters are the kind of people I see in line in wal-mart that make me struggle with self righteousness, and i can't bring myself to care about them at all, much less for the sake of the lame story.