kenfromcanada Filled with recognizable actors, this movie - to me - verges on great. The story is - unfortunately - too believable. A crack head mother abandoning her child, a washed up musician, a band together past their expiry date. Probably a tale acted out in real life - daily. Shue has the crack/alcoholic/hooker/or groupie role down pat - but - not to diminish from her acting - and - I think she looked great for very late 40's! Breslin is - again in this role as so many of her others - an actor who I think will be amongst the greats. It is always a pleasure watching Peter Stormare, although he is best as a villain - here - he isn't - but is a great character actor - from Sweden. The remainder of the cast are uniformly superb - a few are on hit TV shows in the past couple of years. All in all, this film just seemed - real.

meghensley20 I saw this film for the first time in a little theater in Des Moines, Iowa called The Varsity. It is one of my favorite spots. I thought that it was only right that I see it in an Iowa theater since thats where it was shot. A lot of my friends had worked on this and I was excited to see it! Overall I thought that the story was pretty good. I really felt for abigail's character. She is always so great in everything she does. I also heard that she was a joy to be around, so that probably helped too! This films progression was done really well. The character development was awesome! The only thing I would change would be how quickly we get to the end. I wish that I could've been led a little longer. Anyways, great film. Proud to have it shot in Iowa!

Ed-Shullivan Okay, so the movie is far from reality and never likely to have incidents such as depicted in this movie transform in real life. Now that I got that out of the way I will tell you what my wife and I thought were the highlights of this melodrama.The relationship that evolves gradually between the two main characters, missing father and roadie rocker Ethan Brand, (Alessandro Nivola), and lost 13 year old daughter Janie Jones (Abigail Breslin), takes place as Janie's drug induced mother Mary Ann Jones (Elisabeth Shue) literally dumps her daughter on unsuspecting rocker bastard father Ethan as he is travelling through the U.S. on his tour bus with his band. Ethan initially rejects the notion that Janie is his daughter, and his emotions get the better of him, as does the booze, as one by one he fights with members of his own band until all that is left on the road is Ethan and his daughter Janie. One of the first relationships to disintegrate and he loses is that of his band member and girlfriend, Iris, played by Brittany Snow. Even his long time road manager, Sloan, played by Peter Stormare, realizes the gig is past its heyday and he decides to move on to greener pastures.So with only guitar and daughter in tow Ethan is forced to play the bar scene to a much smaller audience who does not show the appreciation for his musical talents that Ethan is used to receiving. Spiraling continually downward Ethan boozes it up, until fighting with the local rowdies eventually lands him in the slammer. Now what to do Janie? She's 13 years old stuck in a motel with her dad in the slammer. So Janie uses her intuition and driving skills to somehow get her dad out of jail. Not wanting to spoil the plot any further I will say that the next few scenes are a bit unrealistic but heartwarming for any father and daughter relationship to grow, Janie appears to have some musical talent of her own, and with her dad sobering up real quickly they visit dear old mom for a small loan to get them the start up money needed to get back on the road as a duo. Frances Fisher plays Lily, grandmother to Janie, who gets to meet her grand daughter for the first time. Relationships are starting to form, the musical talents between Ethan and Janie are melding, and then dear old drug addicted mom, Mary Ann (Elisabeth Shue) comes back in to the picture.Okay, so dysfunctional families are part of our culture and always will be, but when heroes come to the rescue and music that warms our heart mellows us, we transform in to a loving family unit that enjoys a good picture even if the story line is not the strongest. I think this is a movie for families to watch and enjoy assuming that your children are well in to their teens. Spoiler alert moms and dads: At the end of the movie, you will be obligated to hug your daughters and tell them you love them even if they have caused you some grief lately. (Or maybe you have caused them some grief?) Either way it is a good watch for the music and warmth that evolves between daughter and father.

TxMike I managed to see this on Netflix streaming movies. There is way too much coarse language, way too much, but for viewers who can get past that, a good story.Elisabeth Shue is Mary Ann Jones, battling drug and alcohol abuse and losing the battle. She has a 13-year-old daughter, Abigail Breslin as Janie Jones. Since she is the title of the movie that might lead to the conclusion that it is about her. And it is, but also about her dad that she never met, and who didn't even know he had a daughter.Alessandro Nivola is the dad, Ethan Brand , and also a somewhat famous musician and singer whose luster seems to be fading fast. He is the main attraction to the musical group, using a bus to tour for gigs, but he has become very difficult. This threatens and eventually destroys the group.Mary Ann finds Ethan, springs on him that Janie is his for an encounter 14 years ago, and while he is singing in a night spot, she skips out to leave Janie with Ethan. And that is what the movie is about, Ethan learning to accept Janie, while she explores her own guitar-playing, song-writing, and singing. Over the period of a bit more than 90 minutes Ethan comes to grips with his bad behavior and learns to care about more than just himself. I enjoyed it.