However, when the architect's firm he works for sacks him for refusing to enter the computer age he decides to go back to basics and construct a new life for himself.

George resurrects an old dream - to rebuild his house - and he recruits his reluctant son Sam (Hayden Christensen) to help him with the job over summer.

Cue a Changing Rooms scenario...but instead of gurning Carol Smillie sawing through the MDF, his ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) arrives to feed the team (and see how George and Sam are getting along).

Sam would rather be soaking up the sun in Lake Tahoe and bitterly resents being press-ganged into helping out Pop in what he sees as a starry-eyed venture.

But gradually (whaddya know!), Sam falls into line and, in a bit of bonding only achievable in American films, is soon firmly onside.

The cathartic experience of manual labour also allows George to feel good about himself and soon Robin, who is cooling towards her unemotional husband, begins warming to him again.

This is a bit of a curate's egg - the saccharine sweetness of some scenes are only just balanced by a darker side straying into the realms of a poor man's American Beauty.

However, the more cloying moments are banished by the adroit skills of Scott Thomas and particularly Kline, one of America's more interesting movie veterans.

Kline never lets himself slip into the clichéd, square-jawed American hero but always suggests there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.

His performance adds steel to what could have been a limp, damp-eyed central role in a movie that aims to be pretty relentless on the tear ducts.

Before the topping out ceremony, a whole cast of misfits have joined George's building crusade and, by the closing titles, there's enough blubbing to wash the foundations away. Only interested buyers need apply.

Tim Evans