Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. To earn the money for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a cantankerous middle-aged man who lives with his niece and her family.

• Universal Pictures
• City Light Films
• Al Pacino
• Chris O'Donnell
• James Rebhorn
• Gabrielle Anwar
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• Richard Venture
• Bradley Whitford
• Ron Eldard