A 2005 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Victoria Redel, directed by Kevin Bacon and starring Kyra Sedgwick, along with Marisa Tomei, Campbell Scott, Oliver Platt, Matt Dillon, and Bacon.
All Emily Stoll (Sedgwick) wants is a child of her own. Her yearning to be a mother stems from having been raised by inattentive parents. In time she gives birth to a boy named Loverboy AKA Paul. As the boy grows up, Emily becomes overly protective of Paul/Loverboy.
Not to be confused with the 1989 comedy film of the same name.
This film contains examples of:
- The '70s: Emily's childhood flashbacks take place sometime in the late 1970s.
- Adults Are Useless: Emily's parents Sybil and Marty are so involved with each other that they neglect her.
- The Cameo: Several, including Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, John Legend, Oliver Platt, Campbell Scott, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon himself in a Creator Cameo.
- Chosen Conception Partner: Emily goes with this option in order to conceive Paul/Loverboy.
- Driven to Suicide: While Emily and Loverboy are spending the night in the car, Emily plans to kill herself and Loverboy by overdosing on pills so they can be Together in Death.
- Generation Xerox:
- Sybil and Marty commit suicide by overdosing on pills when Emily is still a child, Emily also commits suicide when Loverboy/Paul is still a young boy.
- Just like Marty, Emily absorbs facts and decides to teach Loverboy herself.
- My Beloved Smother: Emily, to the extreme. She does not want to send him to school at first. She finally yields and the anxiety overwhelms her.
- Parental Substitute: Emily considers her neighbor Mrs. Harker as this.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Sosie Bacon appears in her screen debut as the 10-year-old Emily.
- Who's Your Daddy?: Subverted in Emily's first child's case; Emily defends this by stating that "Many men equals no father".
