Off-color at the outset, one must dig deep for the sweet, sincere, deeply provocative plot that is Michael Lichtenstein's Happy Tears. But, if you dig deep, if you sit through the laborious story, the rough-edged characters and the erratic dream sequences, you will surely find a treasure.

The story follows two sisters, the prissy, wide-eyed Jayne (Parker Posey) clad in $2,800 blue-black boots for most of the film and the older, wiser bohemian Laura (Demi Moore), who return home to their native Pittsburgh to care for their ailing father Joe (Rip Torn). This is only seven years after their mother's death and the younger sister Jayne keeps us on our toes as we attempt to decipher the emotional impact this event has had on the family -- but mostly her.

Slowly, Jayne's past begins to unravel as familial secrets become unearthed. Jayne examines her not-so-perfect life through an intermittent lens of childhood memories. Laura, who easily plays the role of the guardian big sister, breaks the assiduous trance that her sister has been caught in since they were kids.

While the story merely references Laura's work as an environmentalist and her inability to be a full-time care-taker to their father because of her three small children, it would have been clever if her character and familial woes were fleshed out more on screen. Meanwhile, we see how Jayne's choice to marry her rich, workaholic art-dealing husband (Christian Camargo) with misgivings about having children has caused her to feel empty, longing for younger, happier days.

Enter Joe's new main squeeze, Shelly, (Ellen Barkin) a nurse with a broken stethoscope who keeps coming in and out of the home at strange hours donning their mother's old winter coat. Barkin is brilliant as a decrepit crack fiend who is clearly using Joe for shelter and money.

Still, a moment of tender breakthrough happens one evening when Shelly returns from "work." Jayne, all while fuming about Shelly's gold-digging tactics, offers her tea, then massages her pressure points to relieve her headache. It was the 'aha moment.' Jayne views Shelly's vulnerability as a kind quite similar to her own. It would have been easy to remain on her high horse - she would have even been applauded for doing so. But, it was her ability to empathize with and care for Shelly, no matter how illegitimate her role was to the family structure,that endeared us toward Jayne.

As the plot moves forward, we find that both Jayne and Laura are marked with the strength of their late mother. All three have the power to endure hardship brought upon them by the men in their lives. And, as the going gets tough, they adjust, they undergo discomfort, but they never surrender.