i saw the movie recently and really like it . i surprise myself and cry . this movie be in the same niche genre a away from her or even the bucket list but handle the whole age theme with incredible authenticity . it really really tough to have the main character as unlikable a hagar . the director do a masterful job with the challenge . hagar hard to understand . her world have hard edge and she isn not a warm endearing woman at all . the first scene get this across without any compromise . hagar ( ellen burnstyn ) be be take to a nursing home by her son and daughter in law . she figure it out en route and freak out . her edge be really hard . she be mean . she be belittle and selfish . she be a stone . i do not like her not even a little bit . throughout the course of the movie and we get insight . we find out why she doesn not like petunia and why she favor one son over the other and how her loss have form her character . i start to see the angel . and i start to like her . i especially like her when she pour out her secret to the boy in the shack . ellen burnstyn and you be a brilliant actor . kudos . kudos . kudos . what a scene . this isn not a feel good movie and but it be certainly a movie that bring the viewer to empathy . i understand more clearly that hard edge in a person life be there to protect and they be there for a reason . hagar isn not my mother she isn not even my mother in law or neighbor . but part of her be present in many woman ( and men ) in my life . those part somehow make more sense to me now that i have watch the stone angel .