Inspirational pictures of a skein of geese following a powered glider shaped like a goose will have you reaching for the handkerchiefs in this stunningly shot, well-realised weepie about a teenage girl (Anna Paquin) who loses her mother in a New Zealand car crash and goes to live in the wilds of Canada.

Here her love for life is rekindled when she 'adopts' a clutch of goose eggs, all of which hatch to provide her with a ready-made family of 16 goslings.

Crunch time comes when the geese should fly south - and face having their wings clipped by the authorities if they don't.

Thus the glidoplane, invention of the girl's father (Jeff Daniels), who must teach her to fly as she's the only one the geese will follow.

Paquin isn't especially good as the girl, but no matter: when the film takes to the skies, our spirits soar with it, as the geese head off on an emotive migratory journey.