The talents of a youthful Mel Gibson (a year before he made the smash hit Mad Max) and a Piper Laurie slimmed down from her comeback in 'Carrie' two years earlier are just enough to make us care about the outcome of the slow-building romance between a mildly retarded man in his twenties and the fortysomething woman who teaches him to read and opens his eyes to the world. Pat Evison and Alwyn Kurts as Tim's parents complete a quartet of sensitive, lived-in performances that carry the movie through. The thoughtful, slightly offbeat romantic drama is based on a book by Colleen McCullough, who wrote The Thorn Birds and directed by Michael Pate, an Australian actor who spent many years in Hollywood.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes