Cady's Take:

The center of the story is Miles Roby (Ed Harris) who has been running the Empire Grill for 25 years in the hope that the town's wealthy old proprietress, Francine Whiting (Joanne Woodward) will leave it to him in her will, as promised.

We also have Helen Hunt as his ex-wife, Janine, on a starvation diet for affection; his beloved teenage daughter, Tick (Danielle Panabaker); Paul Newman as his smelly alcoholic father, Max; Robin Wright Penn as the beautiful lonely mother little Miles grew up with; Philip Seymour Hoffman as C. B. Whiting, her love interest; Aidan Quinn as brother David, and Dennis Farina running a health club, gobbling Viagra, and lying about his age.

Everyone lives in the small blue-collar mill town of Empire Falls, Maine. This film examines the complex web of relationships that exist between all of these aforementioned characters. Sounds like too many people to follow or care about? You're absolutely right, the plot interweaves a number of story lines, too many in my opinion, but you have to remember that this was adapted from a novel.

In the wasteland of reality TV and crime procedurals that is network television, HBO offers up a welcome selection of original shows and movies. " Empire Falls ", originally shown in two parts, can be seen on HBO, so check your local listings, and set your DVR or TiVo.

Empire Falls is any small New England town, filled with hardworking people who are all nursing some secret hurts, and dreaming secret dreams. An all-star cast includes Ed Harris, Paul Newman, Robin Wright-Penn, and my personal favorite, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Ed Harris plays Miles Roby, a man chained to his small town, trying to raise his daughter, Tick (Danielle Panabaker) and who is beginning realize that the familiar things he believes are tying him down have never truly been what they seemed to be. The fun of " Empire Falls " is learning about Miles' life along with Miles. The central themes of this movie are that the truth hurts, but the truth also sets us free.

Not all seriousness, " Empire Falls " also provides plenty of laughs as the relationships of all the characters are revealed, and we get to see an interesting slice-of-life as people wander in and out of the Empire Grill, run by Miles. This is an excellent movie, so if you do not have HBO, put this one on your list for its DVD release.