AllMovie

Oscar-winner Kathy Bates stars in this tearjerker about a strong-willed widow determined to make it on her own. Bates is Frances Lacey, mother of six, left alone to provide for the family after her husband dies. Hoping to steer the kids away from the hazards on the streets of Los Angeles, she packs the brood up in the family car and heads out to find a new place to plant some roots. When Frances spots the unfinished frame of a house owned by a lonely Japanese man (Soon Tek-Oh), she cuts a deal with him to get the house in exchange for chores done by the family. Despite the trappings of poverty and the miseries that accompany financial uncertainty, Frances refuses to allow herself or her children to wallow in self-pity and instead forges ahead teaching them valuable life lessons.