Winona Ryder is a very good actress. Unfortunately, she has not been able to build a career that would make her a genuine star. Her talent is evident even in mis-fires like Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, in which she plays town misfit Dinky Bossetti. Ryder had a tough time in school, where she was often the target of bullies. Perhaps this biographical detail explains why she was so real when she played troubled teenagers.

Roxy Carmichael has some clever writing, such as when Dinky tells a pig not to be a cliché after the pig tries to eat another animal’s food after he hated his own. There is also a really good scene involving Jeff Daniels’s wife leaving him. Although aimed at mainstream audiences, the script is a series of character moments rather than a “plot” story.

However, the final product doesn’t really work, in part because the premise is rather lame. A small town in Ohio is gearing up to welcome the return of a prodigal daughter, and Dinky thinks that Roxy Carmichael is her real mom. That such a smart character would delude herself in such a way strains credulity. Winona Ryder and Jeff Daniels sell their parts convincingly, but they can’t overcome the limitations imposed on them by a director and a writer who didn’t map out character arcs.

Yunda Eddie Feng