This film has been on Sundance a billion times and I just now got to see the whole thing. I agree that the performances are very good. Especially the grandmother and her quiet dignity.
To everyone who says the boy didn't change I wonder if you watched the film all the way to the end. From being a total brat he changes to really seem to understand his grandmother and appreciate what she has done for him. The whole thing where he tells her if she's sick to send word and he will come to her very fast; the little cards he makes for her to send to him because she can't read or write; his obvious upset at having to leave her... What more do you need to see that he has changed? It was hard to believe the kid could be so evil for a great deal of the film in the face of her being so nice to him, but by the end he comes around. I'm easily moved, but I sure cried.
To everyone who says the boy didn't change I wonder if you watched the film all the way to the end. From being a total brat he changes to really seem to understand his grandmother and appreciate what she has done for him. The whole thing where he tells her if she's sick to send word and he will come to her very fast; the little cards he makes for her to send to him because she can't read or write; his obvious upset at having to leave her... What more do you need to see that he has changed? It was hard to believe the kid could be so evil for a great deal of the film in the face of her being so nice to him, but by the end he comes around. I'm easily moved, but I sure cried.