Carolina (2003)

A young woman (Julia Stiles) is trying to lead a "normal" life and escape the unconventional lifestyle of her family. The matriarch is her eccentric grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) who raised her and her two sisters (Azura Skye, Mika Boorem) while their father (Randy Quaid) only occasionally popped in. Directed by Marleen Gorris (ANTONIA'S LINE), the film is formulaic and although it zig zags along the way, there's never any doubt where it will end up. For a brief moment, I thought we'd get a bittersweet ending but no, at the last minute we're given a happy ending out of the blue. Of course, one of the main characters has to die so that we can get our tears jerked. Considering the predictability of the whole enterprise, the actors all bring their game and give better than the material deserves. MacLaine has been down this road before (think TERMS OF ENDEARMENT) so she's pretty much coasting but Stiles, Sky and Boorem are good. The film was released in Europe in 2003 but never got a U.S. theatrical release. With Alessandro Nivola, Barbara Eden, Jennifer Coolidge, Edward Atterton and Alan Thicke.