American novelist Charles Baxter has a reputation for writing grown-up stories about love and loss. In this, the first film based on his work, an ensemble cast led by Morgan Freeman brings gravitas to the intertwined lives of several Portland residents. Greg Kinnear plays coffee-shop owner Bradley, who is dumped by his wife (Selma Blair) for another woman, and then jumps into marriage with Diana (Radha Mitchell), an icy estate agent juggling her career with an illicit affair. Meanwhile, ex-junkie Oscar (Toby Hemingway) and his girlfriend (Alexa Davalos) are being terrorised by his bullying dad (Fred Ward). All tell their stories to Harry (Freeman), a sagely professor with a good listening ear and his own private grief. Eager to offer warm-hearted insights into the ephemeral nature of happiness, this is a solid, somewhat middlebrow drama about the human condition. It's not helped by the overly reverent approach of director Robert Benton (Kramer vs Kramer, The Human Stain), who wraps everything in the cinematic equivalent of cotton wool.

A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.