This film about three women is made up of three distinct stories which other than thematic similarities, has no narrative link to each other.  Each story is about thirty minutes long and shows us the current lives of each of these characters as well as some scenes of them growing up as kids.  I found myself interested in all three characters and engrossed in each of the stories which were being told.  But at the end of the film, I also found myself feeling somewhat disappointed in this movie in that it wasn't as powerful or as moving as it tries to be.  Probably the biggest weakness of this movie is that with each story being thirty minutes long, the audience is left hanging about what is going to happen to these people and we want to know more about them.

      In the first story, Kyra Sedgwick plays Delia who suffers from physical spousal abuse at the hands of her volatile husband.  Finally, fearing that her husband's violence will hurt her children, she flees with them to hide from him.  The middle episode introduces us to Greta (Parker Posey) who is a happily married cookbook editor at a New York publishing firm.  She feels safe and comfortable with her husband, because she knows that he will always be faithful to her. But when she suddenly becomes successful with a particular book and author, she realizes that she needs something more in a relationship. In the final story, Paula (Fairuza Balk) has just escaped a brush with death and is running away from her life.  She ends up picking up a young and hurt hitchhiker.

      There are two running themes being reflected in this film which came across to me while watching all three of these episodes.  One is apparently that children who grow up in a family whose parents have serious marital problems will have serious relationship problems as well.  The second theme is that apparently relationships cannot sustain themselves unless both partners are going at the same speed in life (aka "personal velocity").  Now, I don't necessarily believe that either of these themes are completely true but they do lend themselves for three interesting stories about three interesting characters.  Again, I wanted to know more about each one of these people and I wanted to know how they eventually changed their lives.

      I always hate to criticize films like this one whose intentions are certainly good.  Possibly either making each story a bit longer or leaving out one entirely would have enabled the film director to tell us more of the story of the characters.  Also, the grainy look of the film brought about by being shot in digital video does not enhance the film but rather distorts it by the graininess.  The grainy look in the flashback scenes which look like home videos make sense to me but the same look for the rest of the film just didn't work for me.  One other thing about this film that bothered me was the lack of much humor in the stories.  Sure, I know these are all dramatic stories, but some element of humor would have made the film more entertaining and even more realistic.

      By far, the biggest endorsement of this film is the acting.  Sedgwick, Posey, and Balk all put forth exciting and real performances in playing these women who either have shattered lives and/or who know they have to change their current life. All three of these performances were so engaging that I didn't want to take my eye off the screen for a second.  It's always so refreshing to see a film where the actors are giving it all and totally know the characters they are playing.

      So, this is a mixed review for me.  I liked this film but wanted something more.  But the stories are interesting and the acting is superb so I certainly recommend it.