Set in 1969 Los Angeles, this movie aims at nostalgia but really is more a depiction of the tragedy of a dysfunctional family. Young Andrew, a 13-year-old male on the brink of manhood, is saddled with a father who is a compulsive gambler and a mother who is immersed in a constant battle with him because of it. Often desperate for money, their dependence on Andrew’s aunt Nan for money is one more cause of tension and anxiety in an already unhappy household. As Andrew cares for himself and his younger sister, the symbol of his coming of age—his approaching bar-mitzvah—comes to symbolize more than just a rite of passage.
