Clive Owen gives a performance of depth and subtlety in this drama from Shine director Scott Hicks. Based on the memoir by Simon Carr, the film features Owen as Joe Warr, a British sports writer living in Australia, and follows the expat's unconventional attempts to raise his eight-year-old son (Nicholas McAnulty) following the untimely death of his wife (Laura Fraser). But when his estranged teenage son (George MacKay) from a previous marriage comes to visit, a rudderless Joe has to concentrate on re-establishing his relationship with him, too. The film is decently directed by Hicks but it covers little unexplored territory, and the device of having Joe's dead wife popping up in his moments of self-doubt is needless and clunky. But the quality of the acting is impressive and serves to at least give some substance to a rather flimsy plot.

When the wife of sports-writer Joe Warr dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. As Joe rejects the counsel of his mother-in-law and other parents, he develops his own philosophies on parenting.