TV Movie of the Week, at best

Rating: 4/10 (16 September 2013)

Seemed to recall there was good critical buzz on this movie so I just gave it a shot the other day on cable. Yes, I can see how some might find a movie like this "charming" or "refreshingly different", but for me there wasn't enough movie here. At best, this was at the level of a TV movie of the week. Maybe it was just me but I personally felt like the movie kept insinuating that several of the characters had some deep, dark secrets yet to be revealed. But this actually never happened. Paul Giamatti's character: a decent, honest guy does something morally questionable. Why? A secret to be revealed? Nope, just a few bucks short on the mortgage payments. Meanwhile, spends a lot of time coaching but not a lot of time being a lawyer. The best friend(Bobby Canavale) comes across almost perversely infatuated with the blonde kid, but nope, no story there. We first see the blonde kid bruised and black-eyed? Victim of physical abuse? Yes? No? The mom, what secrets is she hiding? Well, nothing really.