Another excellent performance by Harvey Keitel as Mr. Ray Weiler, a widowed father who is doing his best to raise two young girls despite his limitations and emotional handicaps. It is a realistic portrayal of a family's struggles through death, hard times, and the difficulties of a teenage girl as we experience all of this turmoil through her eyes. It has a realistic ending, not the typical Hollywood fare that is served up these days with everyone "living happily ever after".