A young man leaves his sheltered life in a Maine orphanage and for thefirst time experiences real life. He meets people his own age. He findshis first job. He falls in love. This is the plot of director LasseHallstrom's adaptation of John Irving's 1985 best-seller, The CiderHouse Rules.

Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire) is an orphan who hasgrown up at St. Cloud's Orphanage in Maine. The orphanage doctor, WilburLarch (Michael Caine) teaches Homer everything he knows about medicine,and trains him in obstetrics.

When Homer meets Wally (Paul Rudd)and Candy (Charlize Theron), he travels with them to Wally's appleorchard, leaving St. Cloud for the first time. Homer works there, livingin the cider house. During apple season, he shares the house withmigrant workers who travel up the coast each apple season. When Wallyleaves to fight in World War II, Candy and Homer fall in love. WhenWally returns home, paralyzed from battle, Homer experiences his firstheartbreak.

Maguire's performance is admirable; Theron and Cainealso give convincing performances.

The cinematography of the filmis beautiful, portraying the cold beauty and calm of Maine in autumnwell.

One aspect of the film I enjoyed was how well Irving weavescontroversial issues into the old-fashioned plot.

"The CiderHouse Rules" is a story of family, love, heartbreak and coming ofage. The viewer experiences a roller coaster of emotions as Homerchanges from a naive boy to a mature young man. This movie was touchingand enjoyable; the plot was strong and the acting admirable. I highlyrecommend it.