On the A-list of my favorite movies. This is an overlooked gem of a film, where everything works. It reminds me of a great Salinger short story, where all the details are both suprising and totally convincing. There are many moments in this movie that had to be based on direct observation, or, if not, are acts of great creative imagination: the grocery line conversation, the breakfast scene, the food delivery to the Peabody musical performance, and many others. Joan Cusack, Kathy Black, Chris O'Donnell are all outstanding. The music is perfect, as in Brickman's other great effort: Risky Business. There are scenes shot in such a way that they keep evoking different reactions, flipping back and forth between the feel of present event and poignant memory, a sort of bipolar mood established sometimes by nothing more than the distance of the camera from the actors and the lighting. Lange's performance has one of two moments that seemed unconvincing or forced to me, though she's tremendous overall. Like Bottle Rocket and High Art, this is a nearly perfect movie that does what it does so softly it hasn't gotten nearly as much critical attention as it deserves.