This is a wonderful family movie that shows the lingering racial prejudices in a Florida town. When people list states with a lot of past racism, southern states like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia come up, but many don't list Florida, when they definitely should! The prejudice shown in the film is not done in a heavy-handed way, however, but is expressed in more subtle ways.
Two familes are portrayed. There is the black Wilson family, consisting of a mother, father, adult daughter, young grandson and visiting adult son. There is the white Martin family, consisting of a mother and three children. The Martin family is having a hard time because Mr. Martin abandoned them, and their mother is having to run their dairy farm seven days a week. The Wilsons are dealing with their directionless daughter, but are truly happy she is back home with their grandson.
I was truly surprised to find out all the actors playing the Martin children are Canadians, particularly the youngest son. Both he and the daughter sounded like true Southerners to me! There are various Southern traditions shown, as well as fun goats and ducks, and dangerous alligators. (There was a cute little dog, too, but he gets eaten by an alligator early on in the movie. There is no blood or yelping. He is simply gone. It was very sad.)
All in all, this is a movie that makes viewers, both young and old, think of prejudices and discrimination, and realize the importance of family, neighbors, and owning land to pass down to future generations. In addition, it stresses how hard work and dedication gets you what you want in life. Finally, it shows how things have changed for the better over the last few decades when it comes to prejudices held by both whites and blacks. There is still stereotying and discrimination going on, but nowhere near what it was in the past.
