 A teen (Kevin Zegers) with a troubled home life and a penchant for trouble runs with a wrong crowd that constantly gets him in trouble. When his friends steal an older woman s purse, the school principal (James Caan) sees the boy fleeing the scene. When the boy will not involve the friends, he bears the brunt of the crime. In a meeting with his parents (Leslie Hope, David Schofield), the principal immediately senses the conflict that the boy has is his home life. The principal offers the boy an alternative to being removed from school by working for the woman (Gena Rowlands) he robbed until his debt is paid off. Going to her home, he meets her two mentally handicapped sons and the woman, who talks to her deceased husband whom she believes inhabits her garden. Conflicted by the kindness and the love he sees in her family, the boy has to deal with his home strife and the antics of his hoodlum peers. The eventual resolution does offer some surprises along the way.