It's 1933 St. Louis. Aaron Kurlander (Jesse Bradford) is an imaginative kid in Miss Mathey (Karen Allen)'s class. Christina Sebastian (Katherine Heigl) is the pretty girl in class. He befriends rich classmate Billy Thompson and puts up a front about his family. His friend Lester (Adrien Brody) gets him a job as a caddy. Ella McShane (Amber Benson) is a shy neighbor who likes him and suffers from seizures. Patrolman Burns is the corrupt cruel traffic cop. Doorman Ben uses Aaron to deliver booze to Mr. Mungo (Spalding Gray) who spends time with call girl Lydia (Elizabeth McGovern). His little brother Sullivan is sent to live with their uncle. His mother (Lisa Eichhorn) goes back to the sanatorium for tuberculosis. His domineering father (Jeroen Krabbé) leaves for a job to sell watches. He is left alone having to survive with only his wits.

This is an interesting place that Steven Soderbergh has brought the audience to. The many side characters are all great. There are so many of them that the movie relies a lot on its young star to keep it together. Jesse Bradford is a competent child actor and he keeps the character compelling. It's a really tough job and it would have been great for him to have a companion best friend. Adrien Brody is the closest character and should have more screen time. I also would like it to take on a darker tone. This reminds me a bit of Barton Fink and it would be great to have more of that tone.

A young boy struggles on his own in a run-down motel after his parents and younger brother are separated from him in 1930s Depression-era Midwest.

Being based on a memoir, I have to wonder how much of this is fact and how much is fiction. There is nothing fantastical, so I am inclined to believe that it is largely true. However, given that the main character is prone to telling stories, it leaves me to wonder if perhaps the narrator may even have fudged a few things in the process.

Ultimately, it does not really matter either way. The story is enjoyable and the whole thing is very tightly directed and edited. Although not very much actually happens to this kid, it is still fun to watch him get himself into and out of jams... and we have to wonder how much of a con artist the pet store owner is.

In the 1933 Depression, Aaron (an impossibly young Jesse Bradford) is left all alone after his brother is sent away, his mother put in a sanitarium and his father has to leave to work for money. We see what the Depression was REALLY like through young Aaron's eyes. Too often the 1930s are romanticized...but not here!

It is grim and powerful but there's also some very funny moments and a GREAT happy ending that was (more or less) believable. I read and studied the Depression in school and this movie got everything right--especially about the hell people went through. Also it looks fantastic! They got the cars, clothes, houses and everything right on target. This movie also has an incredible cast. Jeroen Krabbe (faking an American accent pretty well),Lisa Eichorn, Spaulding Grey, Karen Allen and Elizabeth McGovern all have small roles but are great in them, but it's Bradford who holds the film together. He was only 14 when he did this and he's GREAT! He anchors the film and is believable every step of the way. Also look for an unknown Katherine Heigl and future Oscar winner Adien Brody in small roles. This was a hard movie to market and the studio didn't even try. It died pretty quickly. I only caught it by accident on cable and was blown away by how good it is. This is an excellent film and easily one of the best film of the 1990s. A definite must see!