Saw Hearts In Atlantis, a film based on a Stephen King novel, but a Stephen King novel not about monsters and such but about kids being sad, so it's a fairly good film. It follows this boy who's being raised by a single mom. He befriends an aging Anthony Hopkins who rents their spare room. Anthony is some kind of fairy godfather who is slightly magical and who tries to help the little boy survive in the world and not succumb to the disadvantages of his life.
The film is nice and touching. There's a few scenes that are very unpleasant to watch, mostly involving the mother, but even though she is a selfish woman, she comes off as more stupid and inept than malicious, like a high school girl who had a baby too soon, not yet outgrown her dreams of Hollywood. Anyway, the film has a big heart.
It's a fairly schmaltzy film, gauzy with old-timey sepia tones and men who wear hats. Anthony Hopkins is kind of irritatingly knowing and prone to quoting books and poems at random, but he's such a solid, unflappable source of warmth in this kid's shitty life that you can't help but love him too.
This film also connects to the Dark Tower book series, King's multi-universe-spanning fantasy series and so I got sucked deeply down a wiki rabbit hole when I was reading up on this film.
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