Like Dandelion Dust

A couple have built a happy life with the son they adopted seven years ago. Then the boy's biological father is released from prison. He never signed the adoption papers; his wife filled them in alone while he was inside. The court orders the child returned. The subject is not custody but the side that is legally right not being the right side for the child. The biological parents have the law with them; but the father has a drinking problem and a history of violence. The film does not resolve the dilemma and shows both families from inside. The form is close to television drama: flat narration, explanatory scenes and directly emotional scoring. There is no formal ambition. The starting point is Karen Kingsbury's novel; she is known in America for popular fiction with a religious frame, and her readership carried straight into the film. It won audience prizes at festivals but struggled to find wide theatrical distribution. Barry Pepper plays the biological father, Mira Sorvino the mother and Cole Hauser the adoptive father. Jon Gunn directs. Who it is for: viewers who like family drama and narratives built on a moral dilemma. Who it is not for: anyone uncomfortable with emotional manipulation; the film does it openly and continuously.