A Home Our Own (1993)

By Greg

Score 5/10

Taking place in the early 1960's the Lacey family wants a home of their own. Without a husband/father and losing her job at the potato chip factory, Matriarch Frances(Kathy Bates) must sell the families belongings and pack up her six kids to hit the open road to find their dream house.

Traveling for several days they land in Idaho and find an abandoned house own by local farmer, Mr. Munimura(Soon Tek-Oh). Pleading with him to trade household chores, paying him over time with money she'll make at her next job. Shayne(Edward Furlong) eldest son and deemed "man of the house" is bartered to perform various tasks at Mr. Munimura's farm and greenhouse. He accepts and the Lacey family have their home. A plan is devised by Frances to build their dream home by themselves, more of a shack than home, its a place they can call their own.

Thus begins trials and tribulations of the Lacey family. There is first date for Shayne, physical abuse to Frances, the Lacey Girls having to wear homemade matching outfits, a dual seated outhouse and Frances realizing that belting son Shayne doesn't work. It does leave the viewer with good messages: Don't have too much pride; help out your neighbors; hard work pays off; don't play with fire; white clothes shouldn't be washed with red; tools and building supplies don't make good Christmas gifts and so on.

Of course this is a drama and it plays out like an after school special or your average Lifetime movie. Not an epic fail, but without Furlong and Bates carrying the movie, it would have been just your run of the mill television movie, possibly having Meredith Baxter or Valerie Bertinelli portraying Frances.

Cast: Kathy Bates, Edward Furlong, Soon Tek-Oh and Clarissa Lassig

Directed by: Tony Bill

Budget/Gross: $12,000,000(estimated)/$1,703,282 (USA)

IMDB Score: 6.6/10

Tomatometer: 45% critics / 67% audiences liked it