From Netflix:

Hired to look after an elderly man and his teenage granddaughter, a dowdy caretaker finds herself drawn to the girl’s ne’er-do-well father, never realizing that the subversive teen has been sending her tender e-mails in her father’s name.

Because the film starred Guy Pearce (whose films are usually very good) I took a chance on this film and won the raffle! Small gems such as this are rare finds.

Of course Guy Pearce does well. But the absolute star of the show was Kristen Wiig (young Lucille Bluth in “Arrested Development”) as the character Johanna Parry. Here is a woman who, as far as I can recall, never smiles in the film. Instead she is this determined, stoic, practical, hard-working, and lonely young woman who despite seemingly hopeless circumstances sets her sight on what she wants. Sometimes her doggedness seems a bit unrealistic, but let us remain optimists.

Nick Nolte (who is now 73 years old) plays a wonderful grandfather. In case you are wondering where you have seen her, his eventual girlfriend Eileen is played by Christine Lahti who portrayed Executive A.D.A> Sonya Paxton in “Law and Order”.

But hats off to the two high school girls Hailee Steinfeld as the granddaughter Sabitha and Sami Gayle (Nicky Reagan-Boyle in “Blue Bloods”) as mean-girl Edith. Sabitha is the lonely, sad, insecure, and vulnerable daughter of Guy Pearce (character Ken). In “Blue Bloods” Sami Gayle as Nicky is sweet and mature. In this film Sami Gayle is perfect as the prototypical high school bitch. Look for two moments: At one point Edith’s sex buddy points out that what she is doing is mean and she pauses only for a moment before continuing in her meddling; At the end of the film she is jabbering on about how wonderful her life will be while trying to ignore Johanna’s accusing stares.

In the small gem category I nominate this film as a DO NOT MISS!