William Hurt commendably goes for a character role and mostly convinces as a shy and troubled Welsh bachelor postmaster, who decides he wants to adopt a child. He is screened by a wisecracking social worker (Jane Horrocks) who introduces him to 10-year-old James (Chris Cleary Miles), a boy who's having his own difficulties with the past. Hurt is admirably non-Hollywood, in a careful, intricate portrait of a man forced to come to grips with the past, especially his relationship with his own parents. The film is somewhat dour and depressing, and a tad slow, but it does reward patience and attention. And, at last, we have a film with both Hurts - John Hurt pops up in a typically eccentric and overripe performance as Uncle Turpin.

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