Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Usually I am saying that a movie’s plot is the same as others but I can’t say that I’ve seen such a plot ever before.

The story is about an environmentally conscious man named Jack and his teen daughter named Rose that live by themselves at an abandoned commune on the East coast. The father created the commune back in the 60's and many people lived there including Rose's birth mother. The commune was an experiment to find out if society could live in total freedom. The story picks up in the current time and the father and daughter are the only ones left. The mother left when Rose was 5 years old and we never learn exactly why. The two characters are developed as having a close and happy relationship. Occasionally the father goes to town or a delivery person brings something by. Otherwise, they spend their day growing their own food, doing their chores, and enjoying life. The viewer is lead to believe that perhaps the father was right in raising his daughter in isolation because things seem good.

We quickly learn Jack is physically ill and has a chance of dying sooner than he would have hoped. The movie focuses on his daughter, and Jack remains pretty healthy in the movie. He begins preparing his daughter for his death which she isn’t prepared to embrace. She has already decided her fate when her father dies and feels strongly about it. She feels so strongly about it that her father may not be able to change her mind. The father realizes a little too late that he needs to introduce her to the real world because now that she is 16 years old she will need to leave the commune and begin her adult life without him.

The story turns when the father makes a decision to bring change in their life. The father decides to bring another family, his girlfriend and the woman's two teenage sons, to the commune which have drastically different values than they do. He makes this drastic change without talking about it with his daughter. He calls the change “an experiment” and ignores her feelings for awhile. She feels betrayed and doesn't know exactly what to do to resolve the problem. She feels that the father’s girlfriend is major competition for her. At first the viewer may think this is normal behavior but it soon becomes extreme. The 16-year-old struggles and rebels because she's not getting her way and acts out in an inexcusable way. Her outburst become more drastic and she starts retaliating with her own “experiments” which really get her father’s attention. Finally her father finally can't avoid the confrontation anymore and tries to put things back the way they once were but it may be too late.

The movie does a fine job of showing the differences between the father and daughter dual team and "normal people" without pointing it out in an obvious way.

Her father continues to loose control of the situation between him and his daughter and has no idea what to do. Knowing that the father won't live forever, sick or not, the viewer wonders what will become of the girl.

It’s not so much the story above that makes the movie so interesting but the decisions that they’ve made and how different they are in comparison to normal people which makes the viewer wonder if these two have mental issues. I felt myself wondering if these personalities were there reason they were in isolation or the result of the isolation. Emotions of the father and daughter is interesting and how the two of them interact with city people is surprising. Somehow Jack seemingly becomes a bad father by loving his daughter too much. Ultimately this was a love story between a grown man and his teen daughter which is where the title comes from.

This seemed like such a long movie. It is 1 hour 52 minutes and felt at least that long because some parts really dragged especially at the beginning when it was just father and daughter. I think I would have enjoyed this storyline as a book better. I didn't find the plot very entertaining as a movie.

The movie was supposed to be about an environmentally conscious father but I didn't see as much environmental living as I thought there would be. He wanted to preserve the wetland in his area otherwise his environmental point of view wasn't mentioned much which kind of made we wonder what his agenda was after awhile.

It thought it played out good as a drama; it brought out a lot of emotions. By then end I was wondering it was going to turn into a thriller.

I’m not familiar with any of the actors in this movie but they did a really good job playing their roles. I really enjoyed the performance of the father played by Daniel Day-Lewis. He had a major part in the story and his acting was very emotional and believable. The daughter, Camilla Belle, also played a large part but I wasn't overly impressed with her acting.

My husband and I both deny ever putting this movie in the queue. We found the movie boring and downright weird. My husband and I both agree that this is a two star at best. I think others will probably give this a higher rating than we do but we just felt that this was a boring, depressing and a sick story that we would have been better off not seeing.

This drama is rated R for language, sexual content without nudity, and some drug material. Kids would be too bored to sit through this movie.

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Camilla Belle, Catherine Keener, Paul Dano, Ryan McDonald, Jena Malone, Beau Bridges, Jason Lee, Susanna Thompson, Anna Mae Clinton


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older