Zellweger plays Ellen, an extremely ambitious magazine writer working in New York City while her parents live in an idyllic little town in New Jersey. Ellen idolizes her literary-minded father. In fact, she's trying to become him through her writing. But she has little in common with her mother, who makes the aforementioned Martha Stewart look like an underachiever on Valium. Once there, her long-held attitudes about her parents are turned inside out.
Family relationships are always tricky, and they make great raw material for drama and comedy.
Since I've never been a mother or a daughter, and that situation is unlikely to change, I can't say for sure that the particular relationship between a mother and daughter is a very complex one. It's just the opposite. But mainly, this is a tale about loss. Anyone who has been the major caregiver for a loved one who is dying will immediately relate to this film. The anger and fear, the hopelessness and helplessness are there in abundance.