Year 1953, Ireland. Evelyn Doyle's mother deserts her family, leaving Evelyn's father Desmond to take care of her and her two little brothers. As Desmond has no job, he's deemed unable to take care of his children, who are therefore taken into an orphanage. Although Desmond some time later gets a job, his children won't be returned to him without consent from his wife. Desmond embarks on a futile-seeming legal battle against the state, a based-on-a-true-story case of David against Goliath.

Movies with a parent fighting for his children are not rare, nor very often good, but this movie avoids all the worst traps. The story is neither overly depressing nor sappy. The character of Evelyn, played by Sophie, is far more than the all too common victim, a fact that greatly enhances the emotional appeal of the movie. Desmond is poor, but again unlike the cliche, he's not a bad or overly flawed man, and is full of love for his children. The colors are unsaturated and the visuals often gloomy, yet throughout everything there is a rare sense of warmth.

Sophie is touching as Evelyn, a character you grow to like, and at least in my case, won't forget for many years.