Very well executed

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Daltry Calhoun is a self-made man, riding to the top of the business world with his hybrid grass seed, and re-inventing himself along the way. But this "new man" will be put to the test when his old girlfriend shows up with his 14 year old daughter at the same time that his business is tottering on the edge of the abyss.In actuality, this film is more about Daltry's daughter, who narrates much of the events in his life. It is an uncomplicated story line with LOTS of strange and complicated twists – just like life. This film is listed as a "Comedy", but would best be described as "Light Drama", marinated with comedy. It covers some very serious and dramatic events, but with a matter-of-fact lightness, rather than a flippant or ponderous or judgmental attitude. Another director would probably have attempted to wring out every drop of emotion out of the story, which would have made the film a cheap, melodramatic over-the-top waste. THIS director did NOT do that.The entire cast gives very solid performances and creates real, lovable, endearing characters, with some truly moving and memorable moments. The biggest problem is that you want more when the movie ends. The script is a joy, leading you down some stereotypical paths then nimbly adding interesting tidbits of information to make you change direction. It has an honest look to it, compliments of filming in a real southern town. Add to this an amazing collection of music with some very new ways to interpret old songs, and you have a solid, well done movie.It is not in the "Oscar" group. But if you are looking for some pleasant entertainment, go get your popcorn, kick back, and enjoy. Add another ½ star if you are a big country-western music fan.

Put any other actress in the "leading" role of June (Sophie Traub), and this film goes over the top, off the cliff, and vanishes into the backlist of the premium cable channels. Hilary Duff would have demolished this character, as would Lindsay Lohan or any of the other Hollywood divas.This role will do for Traub what River's Edge and Point Break did for Keanu Reeves. Neither of those films made too many waves, but they led to the top roles that he would later secure because of his performance in those films. In this film, Traub doesn't just shine, but wipes the mud off of a very mediocre script with a very mediocre supporting cast other than Juliette Lewis, who is totally misplaced and misused.It's easy to think this is a decent script with a decent plot. It's not. It's about a woman dying of cancer who drops her gifted 14 year-old daughter with her father who hasn't seen her since birth, just as his business empire is collapsing; not that he wouldn't trade that empire for his daughter, whom he accepts immediately and appears in awe of at most times.The daughter seems unaffected by circumstance, taking what life gives her without much outward complaint, not letting anything get in the way of her music, or her dreams of going to Julliard, where she'll be whisked into high society, with all its patronage and the social life that comes with being an artisan in Manhattan, a place where June will always be welcome.Traub could have pulled an Oscar nomination from a less political academy, but they'll likely make her pay her dues. Look for her to get increasingly meatier roles in films with bigger and bigger budgets, until she delivers that defining performance that gets her the future Oscar that appears to have her name on it, if she maintains her present course.Oh yeah, Johnny Knoxville isn't bad in this film. He, like the rest of the cast, is very good at getting out of the way so Traub can shine.

Don't be fooled by the names. This movie is a victim of bad merchandising, at least here in Europe. The box that I got the DVD in couldn't be more misleading. In the biggest type that would fit it said "QUENTIN Tarantino" and "JOHNNY KNOXVILLE" and in smaller print "Daltry" (not even the full name of the movie). The name of the director (Katrina Holden Bronson) is completely buried in the small print on the back. And then the tag-line: 'Spreading his seed all over America'. Never was a tag-line less appropriate.'Jackass' and 'Pulp Fiction' couldn't be farther away. Clearly a case where a movie company wants to cash in on the popularity of two of the people involved. Sure, Tarantino will have made the movie financially possible, so what he says goes, I suppose, but I just find it hard to accept that potential viewers are given wrong expectations.Actually the movie is a kind-hearted story about the hardships of a fourteen year old girl that is about to loose her mother and find her father (not a spoiler; we are told so in the opening sequence). Knoxville plays the father, Daltry Calhoun, and does so adequately. His acting doesn't stand out, nor is it irritatingly bad. The same can be said of the other actors. Julliette Lewis gives her character, the young widow Flora Flick, the right mix of ignorance and cleverness to be convincing. It's a pity that the part doesn't offer her enough room to show all her qualities. More caricature than character, I'd say.The person that lifts the entire movie to a higher level is young actress Sophie Traub. She is the smart, friendly teenager June that is struggling with some very grown-up problems. She manages to make you feel sympathy for her without getting melodramatic. The scene in which she tries to get her father's young associate Frankie (Kick Gurry) to tell her everything about French kissing is NOT sleazy, it's plain funny.This is also a feel-good movie, but not such a lame, predictable one. Okay, the stroke of good luck that her father has, that will make all the problems go away, may not come as a surprise and of course the ugly duckling turns into a pretty swan, but hey, she deserves it.In short, a movie that was overlooked in the theaters and really deserves a second chance as the endearing dramatic comedy that it is. And as for Sophie Traub; may her acting career be long and fruitful.Holland, November 2006

Despite good performances and solid direction, this movie leaves you wholly unsatisfied because essentially nothing climactic or surprising happens to tie it all together in the end.The conflicts between the various characters resolve themselves all too easily, as does the problem Daltry is having with his failing empire. The ending leaves you feeling that once the script hit 100 pages, the screenwriter just decided to finish things off.Worth seeing for solid performances by Knoxville and newcomer Sophie Traub, but overall it just feels like a good idea that never develops fully.