A small-scale, inconsequential story, based on the novel by Emma Freud, vivid with flavour and colour, but finally leaving little impact on the mind. It's 1972 and Julia (Kate Winslet), in her mid-twenties, has separated from her partner and, with two small daughters in tow, travels from England to Morocco in search of enlightenment - and a new life. Taking precarious root in Marrakesh, she exists on money which soon runs out and, apart from making and selling dolls, is forced to depend on the scrounging abilities of her latest love (Said Taghmaoui), a local rapscallion. The Winslet character, though the actress admirably expresses her maternal qualities, is too shallow for us to share in her misfortunes and in consequence this is little more than a fascinatingly set time-passer.