This film has good intentions, but when all is said and done, it is little more than a sentimental tear-jerker. Heidi lives in an apartment with her mentally disabled mother and her next-door neighbor Bernadette. The apartment is actually Bernadette's, with her mother's apartment easily accessed through a removed closet panel.
Odd? Quite. Especially since Bernadette has no idea who pays for Heidi's mother's apartment. She met her right after she gave birth to Heidi, and no one ever came over to ask if she had seen Heidi's mother. Still with me here? Yes, Bernadette just decides to care for Heidi and her mother, instead of calling in social services or anyone else.
Apparently, she pays for all their food and clothes and other stuff, but sends 12-year-old Heidi, dressed to look like an adult, off to a slot machine place where she always wins lots of quarters. No joke. Bernadette also homeschools Heidi, so there was never a need for a birth certificate or any other form of identification. She obviously doesn't want Heidi to be taken away from her by anyone.
Bernadette has agoraphobia, you see, and really emotionally needs Heidi and her mother. Problem is Heidi is at an age where she wants to know who her father is, why her mother has no relatives, and doesn't even have a real name. (Bernadette calls her "Precious".) So, after looking at photos in her mother's apartment for the very first time in 12 years, off Heidi runs away to the east coast to find answers.
It's a long bus trip from Reno, Nevada, but Heidi gets to where she is going, and soon finds answers to all her questions. It's really not much of a story and not particularly believable, both Heidi's family story and the movie's story. Yet, from reading reviews, it appears to be a story some viewers found very touching. If you are the type of viewer who has a box of tissues nearby, do give the film a try.
