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Years ago, the fiercely independent Lee took off for Ohio, while her older sister Bessie stayed home to look after their bedridden father, Marvin. Lee has troubles of her own, including her mischievous son Hank, who has a knack for burning down the neighborhood when shes not looking. Seventeen years since her last visit, and after an unexpected call from Bessie, Lees packs up Hank and his younger brother Charlie for the trip home.
Estranged since their fathers first stroke some 17 years earlier, Lee and Bessie lead separate lives in separate states. Lees son, Hank, finds himself committed to a mental institution after setting fire to his mothers house. His younger brother, Charlie, seems unfazed by his brothers eccentricities or his mothers seeming disinterest. When Lee comes to the asylum to spring Hank for a week in Florida so that he can be tested as a possible bone marrow donor for Bessie, Hank is incredulous. "I didnt even know you had a sister," he says. "Remember, every Christmas, when I used to say Well, looks like Aunt Bessie didnt send us a card again this year?" "Oh yeah," Hank says. Meanwhile, Marvin, the two womens bedridden father, has "been dying for the past twenty years." "Hes doing it real slow so I dont miss anything," Bessie tells Dr. Wally. In Bessies regular doctors absence, it has fallen to Dr. Wally to inform Bessie that she has leukemia and will die without a bone marrow transplant. This precipitates the two sisters uneasy reunion. In Marvins room, Bessie cares for her fathers every need. In Lees eyes, the sacrifice Bessie has made is too great and realizing the old mans welfare will fall to her if Bessie dies, Lees first instinct is to look for a nursing home. "In a few months, Ill have my cosmotology degree," she says. "My life is just coming together; Im not going to give it all up, now!" As first Lee is tested and then the boys for the compatibility of their marrow with Bessies, the women take stock of their lives and rediscover the meaning of "family."
Meryl Streep
Lee
Leonardo DiCaprio
Hank
Diane Keaton
Bessie
Robert De Niro
Dr. Wally
Hume Cronyn
Marvin
Gwen Verdon
Ruth
Hal Scardino
Charlie
Dan Hedaya
Bob
Margo Martindale
Dr. Charlotte
Cynthia Nixon
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Kelly Ripa
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John Callahan
Lance
Olga Merediz
Beauty Shop Lady
Joe Lisi
Bruno
Steve DuMouchel
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Bitty Schram
Janine
Lizbeth Mackay
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Helen Stenborg
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