This is in many ways a fascinating movie. It is certainly entertaining and moves quite well, and everybody puts their best into it. (The "making of" featurette on the DVD is a wonderful look into the making of a higher budgeted 'indie' movie by the way.) But there is one serious flaw to the film, and that is Renée Zellweger's performance. Whenever the character undergoes pressure, she gets all wobbly and quirky, like a character actor playing a supporting role - but she's not only the lead, she's what the picture is all about, so this is definitely a flaw that threatens to derail the whole project.

Fortunately, it doesn't. First, of course, everyone else in the picture submits wonderful performances. Logan Lerman is a marvelous young actor who strikes chemistry with practically everyone he interacts with. And the film is really beautiful to look at, and filled with pleasantly eccentric characters, in situations highly evocative of the era in which they occur, the 1950s.

Secondly, part of the problem with Zellweger's performance may have to do with the character herself. Although she fancies herself a Deep-South Southern Belle, deserving of the better things in life, once we meet her sister we realize that she really comes from the mid-South commercial class, and that her attitude of entitlement is a self-delusion. She is thus out of touch with her own life, and in need of review of her identity. On the other hand, her desperate search for a husband to support her has a realistic edge - the '50's America was not kind to single moms. The question thus becomes whether the inner struggles involved in her effort to survive repeated crises is well presented. I'm not sure it is, but not from want of trying on Ms. Zellweger's part. It may be that the core of the character is really hard to define.

Otherwise, I have no trouble recommending this often amusing, insightful glimpse into a complex family during an era of change. It may have no more weight than an old family snapshot of the era, but it is as telling and well-developed a snapshot as one could wish.

It's 1953. Ann Deveraux (Renée Zellweger) lives with her womanizing band leader husband Danny (Kevin Bacon) and her two sons George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall) in NYC. After catching him with the latest indiscretion, Ann walks out on him. She's a flaky clueless mother and goes on a cross country road trip looking for a new man.

This shows that Renée Zellweger is actually a real actresses. She's given a couple of great lines and a fascinating character. She does a pretty good job. Logan Lerman is a good young actor. He plays George Hamilton's character in the semi-biopic. It feels a little light weight and meandering. Maybe I just don't know much about George Hamilton or a fan of his work. He's always been just a caricature of the Hollywood guy with too dark of a tan. So I'm not naturally interested in his life.

Ann Devereaux, a Southern belle of a certain age, is married to Dan Devereaux, a philandering band leader. They have two sons, George and Robbie. While living large in the Manhattan of 1953, Ann is shocked when she returns home one day only to find her man in bed with another woman. Her revenge follows in getting all the money from her husband's and hitting the road in search of her long lost loves.

There are stops in Boston, where she meets with Wallace McAllister, a man that wants her money instead. Meeting Col. Harlan Williams, appears to fit her aspirations, only to find out this man is a disciplinarian who does not take kindly to her children. The next stop is Pittsburgh where a former beau has something else in mind.

With no prospects of ever making money, Ann and the boys land in St. Louis where her sister Hope lives. Ann goes through some horrible jobs until she is hired for a store that uses her personal taste to make unprecedented sales. The owner of the chain Gill Massey, likes Ann at first sight. He proposes marriage, something that makes her happy. The trouble is Bill Massey is already married and has married a few other women. The real wife of Massey offers Ann a cash settlement to compensate for her embarrassment.

George does not want to move to California with the rest. He has found a nice environment in St. Louis and stays with his aunt. That only lasts until Robbie calls him after they were robbed of all the money they possessed. George goes to the rescue immediately, deciding to stay with Ann and Robbie. The next stop is Los Angeles and the trio land jobs as extras in Hollywood. Ann pushes Robbie to be an actor, bur it is George the one that makes it, after all. At the end in his narration he informs the audience he got a contract in the movies as an actor and decided to change his name to Hamilton, like in George Hamilton, whose life the film is loosely based.

The film, directed by Richard Loncraine, is mildly amusing. It is basically a road film in which the characters get to experience quite a lot. Ann is the eternal optimist, even in her worst moments. Her motto is that things have a way to turn for the best. She was a resourceful lady who is modeled after the real mother of actor George Hamilton. The film takes a nostalgic look at the way we lived in that era, where things were less complicated in the country.

Renee Zelweger plays Ann with all her tics and mannerisms that are her trade mark. Logan Lerman is the real star of the film because he is a much original character. The supporting cast is not too shabby, any film with Kevin Bacon cannot be all that bad. Chris Noth, Steven Weber, Robin Weigert, Mark Rendall and the excellent David Koechner have good moments in the film.