Bobby Morrow's life in suburban Cleveland has been tinged with tragedy since he was a young boy, losing first his beloved older brother to a freak accident, then his mother to illness, and finally his father.

When Alice catches them both masturbating in a car, Jonathan, embarrassed, tells Bobby he is going to leave as soon as he finishes high school.

Alice teaches Bobby how to bake, unintentionally setting him on a career path that eventually takes him to New York City in 1982, where Jonathan is sharing a colorful East Village apartment with bohemian Clare.

The three take Ned's car back east with them, and they impulsively decide to buy a house near Woodstock, New York, where Bobby and Jonathan open and operate a cafe while Clare raises her daughter.

The website's critics consensus reads: "A Home at the End of the World aims for profundity, but settles for stale melodrama, yielding a slew of sensitive performances that are nevertheless in service to characters who prove to be ciphers.

Scott of The New York Times observed, "As a novelist Mr. Cunningham can carry elusive, complex emotions on the current of his lovely, intelligent prose.

A screenwriter, though, is more tightly bound to conventions of chronology and perspective, and in parceling his story into discrete scenes, Mr. Cunningham has turned a delicate novel into a bland and clumsy film .

"[4] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 and ½ stars out of four and wrote, "The movie exists outside our expectations for such stories.

"[6] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film three out of four stars, calling it "funny and heartfelt" and "a small treasure."

is a career highlight" and "Stage director Michael Mayer (Side Man) makes a striking debut in film.

"[7] David Rooney of Variety called the film "emotionally rich drama" "driven by soulful performances."

He added, "Strong word of mouth could help elevate this touching film beyond its core audience of gay men and admirers of the book.