Word: ben
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Americans do believe in property rights--including the right to profit by selling. So the farmers and ranchers who feel squeezed out when tract housing plunks down next to their pasture often think about cashing in. "You get people waving millions," says Ben Wurtsmith, 67, a rancher in Colorado's Eagle County, not far from the exploding area around Vail. "Some days you just think about taking the money and taking off." One way to solve the problem, being used in parts of Colorado, is "development rights," which let builders put up houses more densely near town in exchange...
Problems arise from the first moment Ben encounters the Cappadora family. He is no longer the carefree, blond toddler that everyone remembers. Vince (Jonathan Jackson), Ben's sullen older brother, is a high-school junior with quite a few issues himself that are aggravated by Ben's reappearance. Ben's hardworking and optimistic father, Pat, seems thoroughly convinced that if everyone could just put aside their cares over a plate of pasta and a rousing rendition of "La Tarantella," things would work out fine. But although these may seem like gross generalizations--the insecure teen, the boisterous Italian--the film...
...toddler boys and a baby girl. Their picture-perfect life is shattered abruptly when Beth attends her Chicago high school reunion with the three kids. Caught up in the hubbub of the reunion, she turns away for just a few seconds and suddenly discovers that three-year old Ben is gone. Search efforts are futile, except for forging the unlikely friendship between sweet Beth and the tough, hysterical head investigator, Whoopie Goldberg. Goldberg is realistic and tactless, introducing herself to Beth as, "Hi my name is Candy, Candy Bliss. Sounds like a porn-star....What can I say, presents...
...first half of the film, the more dynamic and believable half, presents the conflict. The second half concentrates on the characters' emotions and is less credible, although more intriguing than the beginning. The film's turning point, as promised by its commercials and trailers, is the reappearance of Ben (Michael McElroy). But if his reappearance is predictable, the plot twist regarding his disappearance is certainly unexpected...
...most mass appeal films, audiences here must contend with the "fluff," alternatively, "cheeze" factor. Sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant, there's no escaping the fluff. The tattered teddy bear, the frantic race down the street and the basketball games between Ben and Vince are all perhaps a little overly sentimental. Even the ending may seem a little much for the more cynical moviegoers. But the glossy, sophisticated look of the overall film compensates for these unfortunate lapses. And the film deals with such a tangled mess of problems that a tidy resolution must inevitably entail some fluff.The Deep...