THE REAL MOTHER

At 24, Sara Elliott has a big job on her hands as she tries to raise her siblings, 10-year-old Doug and teenagers Carrie and Abby, after their mother has an incapacitating stroke. She mothers everybody, including her clients, and falls in love with Ruben Lister, an unhappily married man who hires Sara to help him find a house. Suddenly her estranged brother, Mack, just 20 years old, returns home and turns their lives upside down, buying presents he can't afford and twisting his siblings' emotions into knots. Melissa Leo performs admirably in delivering Sara's slowly burgeoning adulthood and her siblings' inexperience. But vulgar language and whiny characters stretch Leo's skills. And, unfortunately, the story line doesn't seem to jell; the action is slow. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE/JULY 05]