With the feel of a made-for-TV movie, the picture contrasts a black family living in Chicago low-cost housing structures with the white suburban family of the architect of those projects. The idea of this contrast and ultimately mild interaction is quite intriguing, but its execution doesn’t quite succeed.

The woman living in the project campaigns to have the buildings knocked down and re-built with a design that makes sense to the reality of project life. She’s the most sympathetic character, but her dialogue is iffy, and ultimately, her arc is flat. The architect begins to turn, but that arc also never peaks. Further the film ends on a physical contrivance that subtracts from the gains this character had made.

Each of the other characters (mostly sons and daughters) have their own quirky stories that feel as if they’ll add meaning or emotional impact to the central conflict – but ultimately, they are simply slices of lives. Isabella Rossellini’s performance is probably the most convincing and passionate. But her fans may be disappointed with her relatively short screen time.

My girlfriend and I wanted to enjoy this little film, but for a tale concerning an architect, it enjoyed very little build.

Lastly, no one is all that likeable. I tried, but I never connected with this film. My girlfriend had more patience with it than I, but after an hour and a half we were both just looking forward to the credit roll.

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