Could this movie be more cute? Writer-director Nick Cassavetes casts his own mother Gena Rowlands as a wealthy widow who is depressed by a gap in her life when her daughter Moira Kelly leaves home, but finds unexpected companionship and fulfilment in babysitting Jake Lloyd, the young son of her single mother neighbour, Marisa Tomei. Sweeping all before her in a grandstanding turn, the canny Rowlands proves a total star in this deliciously heartwarming character study. The seven-year-old Lloyd is also very appealing in his film debut, before going on to be Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars series. Gerard Depardieu's acting as Big Tommy is perhaps an acquired taste.

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