My Life So Far MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -1/2

Ten-year-old Fraser (Robert Norman) lives with his parents, older sister, wonderful grandmother and a variety of animals in an elegant country estate in the Scottish Highlands. Fraser even asks Edward, his father (Colin Firth), how heaven could be more wonderful than home. Eccentric Edward invents new products which he manufactures from moss. Gamma (Rosemary Harris), the family matriarch and Edwards mother-in-law, lets Edward manage the family estate. But Frasers Uncle Morris (Malcolm McDowell) tries to convince his mother that Edward is a crackpot who will bring financial ruin to the estate. Young Frasers idyllic life becomes a bit more complicated when 60-something Uncle Morris announces his engagement to beautiful 20-something Heloise (Irene Jacob). Heloise immediately wins the hearts of Fraser and his father, who both develop a huge crush on her. Based on a true story during the 1930s, MY LIFE SO FARs spectacular Scottish scenery, plus Frasers honest attempt to understand grownups will give viewers their moneys worth. Its both funny and touching, but never depressing.

Like any growing boy, Fraser has some curiosities about the opposite sex. He discovers his grandfathers secret library of books filled with pictures of nude women. When his mother (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) mentions at a dinner party that she would like to sponsor a fund raiser for a local charity, Fraser suggests that she and the other ladies practice prostitution. He has read in the books that prostitutes earn money by performing services for men, having no idea what that means. Later, his father has a frank talk with the boy about sex and the nude pictures, but there is nothing crude about it. Edwards wife adores him and is crushed when she begins to suspect he has been unfaithful. To Heloises credit, however, she rebuffs Edwards advances. Uncle Morriss jealousy and resentment of Edward result in a bitter confrontation with fisticuffs. Religion plays an important part in the family, as Gamma instills in Fraser her religious convictions and Edwards two passions are Beethoven and the Bible. Although he stumbles, Edward repents and asks for forgiveness. While it has many admirable qualities, MY LIFE SO FAR, with its prolonged dwelling on nude drawings, goes a bit too far into objectionable territory.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Miramax Films, 375 Greenwich, NY, NY 10013