After her imprisonment, Astrid (Alison Lohman)
her 15 year old daughter, ends up in various foster homes under the child
welfare program. Her foster mothers include a born-again former stripper
named Starr (Robin Wright Penn); Renee Zellweger's Claire a loving but
unstable actress; and Svetlana Efremova's Rena a Russian swap-meet dealer
in second-hand clothes. In between life in foster homes, she meets Paul
(Patric Fugit), a loner in a welfare home, who strikes a rapport with
her.
She suffers a violent attack from a jealous
foster mother and gets exposed to illicit sex in her foster homes and
the only place she finds genuine love doesn't last long. Astrid learns
to balance her life as well as the relationships with her jailed mother
and with the new parental figures in her life. Her experiences make Astrid
tougher and wiser as time goes by. The movie proves that growing up is
a hard process. It also gives an insight to the pathetic state of children
who are forced to enter the system of State Welfare programs.
Kosminsky tells Astrid's story in such a
way that carries you along and makes you wonder what will happen next.
Pfeifer's, Penn's and Zellweger's performances are excellent. It is interesting
to see how each actress moulds their characters as the story goes on.
It is the tale of a teenager surviving her difficult childhood years and
coming out stronger, it is a touching epic and shows one of the darkest
side in life...
We rate the movie above average.
