This lovely film proves that you don't need millions of dollars to make a compelling movie, just a story and characters that the audience can invest in and care about. For my taste, there are never enough films featuring a strong, complex woman in a leading role, let alone a woman over 50, and the marvelous Kathleen Chalfant gets to shine here, along with an outstanding supporting cast. This film is equal parts funny and touching and was clearly made with tremendous care and passion, which is evident on the screen. Highly recommended!

Isn't it a shame that a film like "Isn't It Delicious" hasn't mainstreamed yet? This movie has it all - a great story, an unsympathetic heroine who ultimately turns us into loving believers, a great supporting cast, a pretty universal situation where life confronts death straight on and catches us having to deal with all our own emotions around family and dying. And yet there is nothing sad about this movie. Kathleen Chalfant is so worth watching, as is this film. I really am baffled as to why the people who need to see this film may not have the opportunity to do so. Death and dying are not subjects that make a big splash as a "date" movie but there are many people over the age of 60 who could so easily relate to this film. I hope they have the chance.

Writing this review I should disclose right off the bat that I am an old friend of Michael Kelly's, and knew him to be a very talented filmmaker. I went into the screening at the Big Apple Film Festival expecting to see something really good, but I had no idea. Make no mistake about it—this is no art house movie. It's a major motion picture.It's hard to pick out particular performances in a movie where the acting is so uniformly excellent and the characters so consistently portrayed. Alice Ripley does stand out for her portrayal of the vacuous Caroline Weldon, giving the character a tremendous arc of emotional depth by movie's end.The exception here is Kathleen Chalfant's knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark portrayal of Joan Weldon, the matriarch of a dysfunctional family that is a cross between a Woody Allen movie and King Lear. Indeed, her interpretation is Shakespearian in its depth. The transformation of her character is spellbinding. What a tremendous actor! Credit must go to Kathleen Kiley's script. You know a script is great when you really hate all the characters ten minutes in, after which you can't wait to see what they do next. Michael's direction has given the script a Quentin Tarantino sheen which made the emotionally wrenching subject matter a lot easier for me to digest and extremely entertaining to boot.I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that I will be very disappointed if this film doesn't go on to play in movie houses across America. It's that good.

The juxtaposition of humor and tragedy shoots right at the heart, leaving viewers laughing, weeping, and contemplating their own lives. Kathy Kiley's brilliantly funny, touching screenplay is felt in every scene. Her deep knowledge of the human predicament and her ability to articulate it with wisdom and humor make for a poignant piece that all can relate to. What is especially wonderful and unique is the way that Kiley's story blends Buddhist philosophy with alcoholic dysfunction, and somehow makes it work! Watching the protagonist's journey from fear and inertia, through family relationships and old baggage, and on to a new-found vision of life is moving, inspiring, and a lot of fun. The actors seem to have a real grasp on their characters, and that is nice to watch as well; it is as though the actors are learning about themselves as they play out the screenplay. Just a profoundly human, messy, sweet and illuminating story that all must see.