Seriously dreary family melodrama cobbled together with a series of soft-focus, slow-motion, sepia-tinted flashbacks. McKellen does the best he can with what he's given, but is let down by the maudlin plot and hackneyed direction. Unger's character is brusque, unpleasant and incredibly rude throughout the entire film, yet for some reason we're supposed to feel sorry for her. It doesn't work.

"McKellen and Unger do a wonderful trudging through the dirt (and, finally, cheese), Emile never quite gets off the ground." - Ed Gonzalez

I hardly remember it now, but it was a solid, intimate little movie. That should be regarded as a better recommandation than it sounds.