The film centers on a large family that reconvenes when one of the adult sons, a Marine deployed in Lebanon for the Gulf War, is possibly among the victims of an explosion at his base.

Margaret "Mag" Singer, a wife and mother of seven sons, is on the verge of divorcing her husband Patrick and moving to the city for a life of her own.

Suddenly, Mag hears news of a terrorist bombing at a Marine base in the Middle East, where Percival, one of her sons, is stationed.

[5] In a two-star review, Roger Ebert praised the cast and Sarandon’s performance, but said the family drama felt contrived and formulaic.

[6] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of B−,[7] commending the acting but saying Goldstone’s screenplay “has all of the heft of a special, two-hour episode of Party of Five — a TV-shaped domestic drama overloaded with the kinds of emotions you see only on TV and never in your own family.”[7]