Elizabeth (Kyra Sedgwick, What's Cooking?) arrives at the Martha's Vineyard home of Chase (Helen Mirren, Prime Suspect, Caligula), Richard (Beau Bridges, Common Ground, Sordid Lives, The Hotel New Hampshire) and their two sons to help with the domestic duties. Chase has just returned from recuperating from a nervous breakdown, and she's a rather mean and odd person, estranged from her husband and unhappy with her conventional life. She and Elizabeth make a connection and become friends, both of them misunderstood and raw with emotion.

Over the course of the summer, while Richard is away working in Boston, the two are very good for one another, healing their wounds with love. For Chase, the younger Elizabeth has brought her back to life like her husband never could, but in the back of her mind, she knows that the summer must end.

On the day that Chase finally kisses Elizabeth, things fall apart for their life together on the Vineyard sooner than either had anticipated.

As expected, Mirren's performance is wonderful, and much of the depth of the film falls on her broad shoulders as we watch her character transform. She won a Golden Globe for this performance. Directed by Kevin Bacon and screened at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.