Well, I couldn't leave the most recent review with a rating of 1. Yes, the story has some big reality problems, but it also has it's virtues. There is conflicting evidence as to whether this unlikely story is based upon a true story. In any case, one reviewer related that he/she grew up in a rather similar situation, although not quite as poor.
Widow Mrs. Frances Lacey(Kathy Bates) unfortunately neglected to use a contraceptive device(perhaps because her Irish Catholic husband, whom she is always badmouthing, forbade it?) To be fare, since this is supposed to be in the early '60s, 'the pill' had just recently been made public, and the copper IUD hadn't yet been made available to the public. In any case, she is now a single mother with 6 hungry mouths to feed,. She loses her LA factory job because she socked her boss for making inappropriate suggestive touches to her body. She doesn't want to be regarded as a floozy, as she again demonstrated later in the film. For some reason, Mrs. Lacey forsook sunny southern California for faraway Idaho, with it's very cold, snowy, winters, her kids more than filling her small, old, car. Forget about seat belts! For an equally strange reason, she adopted a house frame as the new abode for her family! The very kind Japanese owner: Mr. Munimura(Soon-Tek Oh) let her have it, as it was supposed to be a house for his son, who died before it was finished. Mr. Munimura will continue to be helpful to this desperate family throughout the film. In fact, I predicted that eventually he and Mrs. Facey would marry. I was wrong, at least, within the confines of the story. Nonetheless, by the end of the film, he had practically become one of the family.
I have to wonder where Child Welfare was hiding out? Mrs. Lacey seemed to think that she and her 2 oldest boys had to support the rest, while gradually improving their shelter, with minimal help from others. I didn't see a well, so where did they get their water from?? They would have to have somebody put in an electricity system. But, they were broke! The roof frame was there, but no roof. So, they got some thin-looking cloth-like material to cover the roof. How was this supposed to support some inches of snow, and keep in the heat?? How was their little junked wood stove supposed to keep them from freezing in this leaky house?
A major crisis occurs when her half-grown son decides to pour some gasoline on their outhouse, no longer needed, since they now have a toilet, and burn it down. Yes, kids sometimes do crazy things! The wood could have been used to fuel their stove. Much, much, worse, some big embers are carried to their cloth roof, setting it on fire. In fact, eventually, the whole house burns to the ground, and in the midst of winter! So, where did the family shelter now?? The story can't end like this!! There is a silver lining to this dark cloud. Someone organizes a group of community men, including Mr. Munimura, to bring parts of a prefab house to set on the foundation. Mr. Munimura had previously offered to sponsor such, but Mrs. Lacey stubbornly refused. Now, she was forced to accept this.
The point of the film is: If people in bad straights concentrate on doing the best they can to survive in the immediate, good things may eventually happen to them.
Incidentally, Soon-Tek Oh was born in Korea, when it was under the administration of Japan, before emigrating to the US. He had long played various East Asians: in this case a Japanese. .......Kathy Bates has had a long history in films.
Widow Mrs. Frances Lacey(Kathy Bates) unfortunately neglected to use a contraceptive device(perhaps because her Irish Catholic husband, whom she is always badmouthing, forbade it?) To be fare, since this is supposed to be in the early '60s, 'the pill' had just recently been made public, and the copper IUD hadn't yet been made available to the public. In any case, she is now a single mother with 6 hungry mouths to feed,. She loses her LA factory job because she socked her boss for making inappropriate suggestive touches to her body. She doesn't want to be regarded as a floozy, as she again demonstrated later in the film. For some reason, Mrs. Lacey forsook sunny southern California for faraway Idaho, with it's very cold, snowy, winters, her kids more than filling her small, old, car. Forget about seat belts! For an equally strange reason, she adopted a house frame as the new abode for her family! The very kind Japanese owner: Mr. Munimura(Soon-Tek Oh) let her have it, as it was supposed to be a house for his son, who died before it was finished. Mr. Munimura will continue to be helpful to this desperate family throughout the film. In fact, I predicted that eventually he and Mrs. Facey would marry. I was wrong, at least, within the confines of the story. Nonetheless, by the end of the film, he had practically become one of the family.
I have to wonder where Child Welfare was hiding out? Mrs. Lacey seemed to think that she and her 2 oldest boys had to support the rest, while gradually improving their shelter, with minimal help from others. I didn't see a well, so where did they get their water from?? They would have to have somebody put in an electricity system. But, they were broke! The roof frame was there, but no roof. So, they got some thin-looking cloth-like material to cover the roof. How was this supposed to support some inches of snow, and keep in the heat?? How was their little junked wood stove supposed to keep them from freezing in this leaky house?
A major crisis occurs when her half-grown son decides to pour some gasoline on their outhouse, no longer needed, since they now have a toilet, and burn it down. Yes, kids sometimes do crazy things! The wood could have been used to fuel their stove. Much, much, worse, some big embers are carried to their cloth roof, setting it on fire. In fact, eventually, the whole house burns to the ground, and in the midst of winter! So, where did the family shelter now?? The story can't end like this!! There is a silver lining to this dark cloud. Someone organizes a group of community men, including Mr. Munimura, to bring parts of a prefab house to set on the foundation. Mr. Munimura had previously offered to sponsor such, but Mrs. Lacey stubbornly refused. Now, she was forced to accept this.
The point of the film is: If people in bad straights concentrate on doing the best they can to survive in the immediate, good things may eventually happen to them.
Incidentally, Soon-Tek Oh was born in Korea, when it was under the administration of Japan, before emigrating to the US. He had long played various East Asians: in this case a Japanese. .......Kathy Bates has had a long history in films.