Again, Julia Roberts shows her greatness...

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2000)

Wow, what a movie! I was dying to see it, but was prevented from doing so until it came out of video. Of course, during the movies that actually mean something to me, there are always phone calls, people asking "Hey, what happened?" upon return from their twelfth snack run to the kitchen, dogs barking at passers by... Somehow, I managed to watch the movie through all these interruptions, and come out of it with that rare feeling that this was a GREAT movie. It was warm, gritty, real and beautiful. Julia Roberts played the low income single mother to the point where you forget she's Julia Roberts. Erin is mouthy, ballsy, brash and fun. It's a story of dedication and a person standing against great odds... it's inspiring, yet not mushy about it, and the many people in the movie are all to be commended for their real-ness. It's a SUPER movie, and from someone who really dislikes "tear-jerker-ish" kind of movies, that means something. It ranks up there with The Green Mile, and the Shawshank Redemption - fresh ideas, reminding us that we have not run out of stories - just the ability to put quality over $quantity$. A++ to this movie. Rent/Buy it.