Was quite astonished to see the low score for this here on IMDb. That's not deserved. I found the film refreshing and fun, if you're able to appreciate a film that doesn't take itself to serious. I loved the light tone and the vibrant colorful style of the movie. It looks like Moonrise Kingdom, and I found it better. The colorful filters make this eye candy. Some scenes are like a painting.Milla Jovovich is a easy-go-lucky mother Olive, mostly on the wrong side of the law. The adores her 11 year old son Bobby (Spencer List) but eventually her past catches up with her. Young Spencer List is impressive and charming in his role.The film, directed by Famke Janssen, has a fairy tale touch, and even th sad parts has a light touch. Ordinarily I'm not too fond of this style, but I found this refreshing and entertaining. It's different, and it's also unpredictable, which is a good thing when you've seen a lot of movies.I really feel the bashing of this tiny story, which is about the love between a mother and her son, is not fair. It's without real sadness, and unnecessary violence, and all Niall hopeful and quite believable. It's such a relief to watch a movie where you don't have to fear bad things happening. A feel-good gem!

Synopsis looked promising. But fell terribly flat of all expectations. We only watched it to the end hoping for something redeeming. Listed as a comedy, but not one thing comically amusing. It had the potential to be a realistic touching and poignant movie of a failing mother having to make a choice between staying with her son, or letting foster parents raise him. But her failings are so over the top as to be unbelievable. This can be acceptable if it was farcically funny... but it is not... just painful in the way that she raises her son in a way that he can do no wrong even though that is all he does is wrong. The mother's accent is so fake that I thought it was part of her shtick. The actress, though born in Kiev does not have an accent in interviews, so had to create this one, but it just does not ring true. This is about as low as I'd rate any movie that I watched all the way through.

"I just don't want Bobby to end up like me and you." Olive (Jovovich) is a single mother/con-artist who is trying her best to raise her son Bobby as best as she can. Bobby starts to act up in class but Olive doesn't see anything wrong with what Bobby does. When a freak accident causes Kent (Pullman) to come into their lives Bobby has a chance at a better life, but Olive has a choice to make. This is not a bad movie at all but it is another movie that has a lot of heart but really nothing else. It's not a total nothing movie because there is a plot but it has the feel of a movie that is just made in order to spend money. I'm not saying that this is a bad movie because I did enjoy it and it was a decent watch, but don't expect anything that will make you think. There really is nothing else to say about this other then that. Overall, a decent watch but nothing amazing. I give it a B-.

I saw this film in Italy at the Busto Arsizio festival in March. For a first-time director of a small-budget film (made in 11 days in 100+ degree heat), I thought it was excellent. It is a quirky, dark comedy with a world seen through the eyes of a foreigner who has images of the U.S. shaped by vintage American films and T.V.This is not your typical Milla Jovovich/Marcia Cross product, so if you are thinking "Resident Evil" or "Desperate Housewives," you might want to pass or open up to something totally different. If you can get over the two leading women's most famous parts and see them anew, you will likely enjoy this film.The excellent: 1) The setting. It was filmed in Oklahoma and captures so much of the U.S. that films often don't. It is full of another kind of culture: one that is slower, bleaker, and more religious than is typical in American films. Having grown up in a vowel state, I thought it captured the culture well and it was shot really interestingly.2) Rory Cochrane and Bill Pullman. Cochrane is very funny and Pullman gives a particularly convincing and sympathetic performance.The so-so: 1) Milla Jovovich. Jovovich's performance is up and down. When it is down it is because she is too over the top; when it is up it is because she has toned it down and bit and connects with the audience as opposed to being some kind of caricature.2) Child actor Spencer List. List is a bit too annoying too often. Like many child actors, he simply overacts pretty much all the time.As far as film festival fare, I would rate this in the top 10%. It is well directed, well shot, well edited, and although the acting is mixed, it is a fun, dark, poignant film.