In a near-empty Northfork orphanage, Father Harlan gently tends to Irwin, a comatose eight-year-old who lies near death. As orphanage caretaker Harlan reads aloud about Northfork's years-ago forced evacuation to make way for a hydro-electric dam, Irwin's imagination takes flight. In his subconscious, characters from the history of Northfork's dam come to life, helping to prepare Irwin as he struggles to come to terms with his own impending "evacuation."
Production Paramount Classics (presented by); Romano Shane Productions (presented by) (as Romano/Shane Productions); Departure Entertainment (presented by); Prohibition Pictures (as Prohibition); Polish Brothers Construction (as Polish Brothers); Alianza Films International; Departure Studios (uncredited);
Cast Names James Woods; Nick Nolte; Douglas Sebern; Claire Forlani; Duel Farnes; Mark Polish; Daryl Hannah; Graham Beckel; Josh Barker; Peter Coyote; Jon Gries; Rick Overton; Robin Sachs; Ben Foster; Anthony Edwards; Mike J. Regan; Mae Fassett; Perry Hofferber; Mark Twogood; Marshall Bell; Josh Olsen; Julie MacAlister; Saralyn Sebern; Ginny Watts; Kyle MacLachlan; Michele Hicks; Eli Akira Kaufman; Steve Kramer; Clark Gregg;
Box Office USD 1,420,578
Release Date 2003-01-21 (Sundance Film Festival) (premiere) 2003-07-11 (limited)