It's a touching and dramatic theme, and for that alone it has some merit and will appeal to some more than others. The movie feels a bit slow in the beginning, with the heavy drama, until it picks up about 40 minutes into it. Once I've made it that far, I became more interested and of course wanted to see how it ended. There was also a surprise that caught me off guard. Not the movie I'd save for the weekend, but it was satisfactory to watch overall. I thought that Viola and Jennifer did a good job.
One thing that the movie didn't do so well is the relationship between characters. Of course it's expected that the focus should be on the mother, but their interactions with others would have more depth if they developed the other characters a bit more.
One thing that the movie didn't do so well is the relationship between characters. Of course it's expected that the focus should be on the mother, but their interactions with others would have more depth if they developed the other characters a bit more.