For such a macho title, this film offers very laid back alpha males.  This is the kind of drama that is associated with more up-market television channels, something of an old-fashioned British upper-class portrait.

The structure of the film is meant to keep reminding us of how the past has its effect on the future, as it moves from the present back nine years and keeps cutting to and fro, sometimes suggesting that the memories are those of different members of the family though that is not always clear.

The gist of the matter is that two well-loved, somewhat spoilt, children experience the death of their father which has dire traumatic effect on each of them emotionally and mentally.  While we can accept that the death of a parent can affect a child, it is hard to see that these two have the right to be so adversely affected or why it has such effect, especially on the girl.

Danny Huston is very sympathetic as the father who is a successful businessman (making cartons for a variety of goods), who has great pride in his son and pampers his daughter (even suddenly getting her a treehouse overnight for her birthday – and trying to read her to sleep with a financial report).  He dies.  Jennifer Ehle (looking remarkably like Meryl Streep) is his wife.

The present time is a weekend for the son’s 21st birthday.  He has not been home for three years.  His sister mopes around the house.  The mother has re-married but the son has not been able to accept this.  The mother’s sister, with whom she fell out, is invited – and is offered a gift of a cheque for a million pounds.  Things go much as you would expect, especially in such an affluent setting with such generally reserved British manners. 

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