Motherlove

Where do boys of single moms turn for male role models in a world of disintegrating families? 12-year-old Nathan turns to Boyd, who Jessie has allowed into their lives to provide what she can't. But while she wants her son to have a man's influence in his life, she feels Boyd is too controlling to consider seriously, her time better spent in the company of best friend Brenda. Nathan tries to appease both sides, balancing vegetable gardening with hockey games, homework with hunting - and somehow avoiding Brenda's pain in the ass daughter, Lori. When it becomes apparent that Jessie has no intention of granting Boyd a permanent foothold in their lives - he wants a family as much as Nathan - their male bonding takes a dark turn, the two spying on Jessie, believing she has secret lovers on her postal delivery route. But Nathan is conflicted, especially after his vegetarian mom chokes on a bone at dinner, and on a hunting trip when his rifle jams, Boyd raging that he did it deliberately. As Nathan's doubts about Boyd mount, his mom drowns in a family sailing accident. Boyd makes an impassioned case for custody and is awarded, becoming Nathan's stepfather. Eager to mold Nathan into a man, Boyd becomes more controlling than ever. Nathan resists his influence, desperate to hold onto the one thing that's always stood between them, his mother's love. Boyd retaliates, destroying Nathan's carefully cultivated garden. But instead of allowing it to break him, Nathan replants and comes to terms with his guilt. And when Nathan discovers the truth about the men on his mom's postal route - she shuttled mail for an environmental group that was being spied upon - he assumes her work. Escalating tension between the two grows to hostility. A hunting trip in which Nathan defies Boyd, refusing to kill a young buck, leads to a showdown back home. Lori has his back and Nathan emerges victorious. Ten years pass, Nathan and Lori have married. Nathan Jr., toddling through the garden, sees something in his father's eyes he doesn't trust. Nathan Sr., at once hinting of Boyd and struggling with the demons of gender, thinks his son's reluctance to embrace him is just a stage. In the war for a boy's soul, the fight isn't over.