A Home of Our Own (1993)

Director:

Tony Bill

Writer (WGA):

Patrick Sheane Duncan (written by)

Release Date:

5 November 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

They had nothing... and tried to find their dream

Plot:

The story is located in Los Angeles in the sixties. An energetic widow, Frances Lacey, with her six...

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Teen Angst | Autobiographical | American Dream | Corporal Punishment

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Frances Lacey
Edward Furlong	...	Shayne Lacey
Clarissa Lassig	...	Lynn Lacey
Sarah Schaub	...	Faye Lacey
Miles Feulner	...	Murray Lacey
Amy Sakasitz	...	Annie Lacey
T.J. Lowther	...	Craig Lacey
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Mr. Munimura
Tony Campisi	...	Norman
David Jensen	...	Mr. Hilliard (as Dave Jensen)
H.E.D. Redford	...	Mr. King
Melvin Ward	...	Father Tomlin
Michael Flynn	...	Mr. Wolters
Donré Sampson	...	Gas Station Attendant (as Don Ré Sampson)
Frank Gerrish	...	Mr. Whitman

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and violence in a family drama.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Heber City, Utah, USA

Company:

A&M Films

Quotes:

Frances Lacey: [Attempting to negotiate a deal to purchase a man's property, when it's obvious she hasn't got any money] I've heard that the greenback dollar isn't the only way to get things done in this great country of ours.

Soundtrack:

La Force Du Destin

gripping story of the ups and (mostly) downs of real life

The narrator of this story is supposedly the 13 year old, oldest son of the family the film is about, and he starts out by saying it's all true. Kathy Bates plays Mrs. Lacey, the mother to 5 children, the widow of an Irish Catholic SOB, as she repeatedly refers to him. They're poor, and on a lurch, pack up and leave their dumpy apartment in L.A. for who knows where. They end up in Idaho, working for a Japanese man who's also a widow, making a home out of a shack on his land. You see (feel) the struggles of a parent, a mother, and not only that, but a single parent and mother of 5 children who has practically no money. You see the relationships between siblings and between the children and their mother. You see the resourcefulness and hard work ethic of the mother, sometimes taken too far, to the detriment of her own children (shunning the priest's attempts at helping out with free clothes or food or Christmas presents). You see the struggles of the oldest boy, a 13 year old son, taking on responsibility as the "man of the house," yet also being told to go get his father's belt for whippings from his mother. The mother finds work in a bowling alley, and you see her struggles with dating the bowling pro who works there. Every penny meant so much to them, that when their house is burning down, the oldest daughter risks her life to run inside and find the money jar, and cries on her mother when she has to tell her she couldn't find it. One of the sons discovers a junk yard on the way home on the schoolbus and ends up making many visits, scavenging various items for the house, pulling it all the way home on a make-shift wagon. As someone else already commented, the Christmas morning scene is poignant, as is the ending of the film. The ending was just another beginning, I would think, for this family.