You can't go on not caring when a 10-year-old girl, full of spirit, is brought into your life. This is what Jake (Danny Glover), an isolated and withdrawn Vietnam veteran, finds out when his old army mate Henry (David Strathairn) leaves his half-Vietnamese daughter for Jake to take care of, quite against Jake's wishes.

Jake lives alone, by choice, far from everything, deep in the forests of Washington state. Life is very basic in his crude shack, with a couple of domestic animals, an old dog and a cat for company, and no humans in sight to bother him. His pension – Jake is not young anymore – pays, one supposes, the occasional short visit to the nearest little town for necessary supplies. Nearby there are also huts of some other similarly scarred vets who prefer the isolation, but very little interaction between any of them.

When Henry, with whom Jake bonded during his service in Vietnam, knows his lung cancer will soon be the end of him, he brings his daughter Lenny to be raised by Jake, the best person Henry knows. Jake's initial reaction is absolute refusal, followed by rage when he discovers Henry is gone and Lenny has no other place to go to.

The beginning is rough. In the eyes of Lenny Jake is scary and crude, and no replacement for her real father. It's not easy for Jake to allow himself to love Lenny, who vividly reminds him of the horrors of the war, of him having had to kill Vietnamese children much like her. But who could resist Lenny, who soon enough changes his mind about Jake. A friendship forms, all the more deep as there is such a void of love in Jake to be filled.

The above would be a recipe for a cheesy, clichéd drama, were it not for the very good execution of the concept on all fronts. Lenny as Zoe is not only good, but also, in my humble opinion, highly memorable and lovable. Zoe's happy moments, while not sugary – none of the movie is that – are catchy and make me smile, and her tender moments make me intensely wish she were mine to take care of.

The movie isn't a feel-good family drama, though; it's harsh, perhaps even a draining experience. The story, and Zoe, likely won't leave you untouched, and are both easily worth your time.