Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Written by: Joseph Olshan (novel) & Mark Medoff (screenplay)

Cast:
Whoopi Goldberg    – Clara Mayfield
Michael Ontkean    – Bill Hart
Kathleen Quinlan – Leona Hart
Neil Patrick Harris – David Hart
Spalding Gray – Dr. Peter Epstein
Beverly Todd – Dora

Plot:
The movie tells the story of a family in crisis. The mother, Leona (Quinlan), escapes to Jamaica to grieve the loss of her baby daughter. While there she meets kindly housekeeper Clara Mayfield (played by Goldberg). Clara pulls Leona out of her depression with a blunt, no-nonsense style. Leona is so taken with her that she brings Clara back to the States, Baltimore to be exact, to be housekeeper and nanny to young son David, played by Neil Patrick Harris. At first he is resistant and sees her as an intruder. But as the parents are completely wrapped up in their own grief and dissolving marriage, David comes to trust Clara and to depend on her. Clara harbors her own dark secret, which when revealed, serves to firm the bond between these two very different, but loving, characters.

“Clara soon takes over the running of the couple’s extremely large house. And when she takes over the raising of the couple’s son, David (Neil Patrick Harris, a fine young actor who really holds his own in scenes with Miss Goldberg), she does a much better job than his parents ever could.”
New York Times