Few movies are enhanced by having a character die of cancer, but "The Sleepy Time Gal" pulls it off OK, largely because the
development is not just a third-act attempt to wring tears from the audience, but is introduced in the beginning and is the driving force behind most of the action. This melancholy, emotional film is about Frances (Jacqueline Bisset, doing outstanding work), who reevaluates her life after receiving news she has the disease. Her 20-year-old son Morgan (Nick Stahl), a sexually confused would-be photographer, is often weary of her and her humanitarian crusades. Her other son is estranged and lives in England. Her third child, a daughter, she gave up for adoption at birth. Now she wants to find her. Meanwhile, we meet the daughter. She is Rebecca (Martha Plimpton), a lawyer whose life keeps almost crossing her mother's. She visits a radio station in Florida where, by coincidence, Frances once worked as an on-air host. She tries to preserve the Manhattan neighborhood where her mother grew up.
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