Maggie (Sarah Campbell) is a precocious girl of about seven,[1] who, since the recent accidental death of her mother, lives with her bedridden aunt Bea (Barbara Hamilton) in a small town in Ontario.

With Bea's health failing and the bills piling up she may lose the house and Maggie may end up in a foster home.

They find Maggie's father Axel (Heath Lamberts), a very flamboyant gay millionaire whom her mother befriended while singing in lounges.

"[1] In a 2013 interview, Shebib remarked that Felix was supposed to be more like the character of Uncle Buck, and that he had hoped to cast John Candy for the part, suggesting the film would have been "a huge success" had that happened: "I think he got [the script] and his agent said, "You're not even allowed to read it," because it didn't come with an offer.

[1] By contrast, he considered Sarah Campbell, a child actor and member of ACTRA since the age of two[5] and ten years old when the film was released,[4] "magnificent".

[1] Writing for the Toronto Star, Jamie Kastner described Change of Heart a "charming, warmer twist on the road movie genre",[2] while the Star's critic Rob Salem described the film as "a gentle, heartfelt little family drama, well-cast and nicely acted".

[8] Writing for Maclean's, Joe Chidley panned the film: "Like most family dramas, it tries to warm the heart and tickle the imagination.