and i would have rat it high than a positive if it wasn not for the seriously uneven irish accent of barbara hershey in the leading role of mother madalyn . the accent come and go unfortunately which i find more than a little distracting . however and the performance of william l petersen in the role of joad be outstanding and he bring a warmth and depth to the character in spite of some periodic hokey dialogue . captivating and genuine and i find him quite astonish in the way he capture the character . the premise of the film be fairly simple and the building of a forgotten staircase in a church . it be base and rather loosely i believe and on a true story and i have hear of this staircase prior to see the movie . it be a phenomenal engineering feat for it time a float double helix make without nail or screw . it exist to this day although it be now in private ownership . minor spoilergood support cast and barbara do die so well in all her movie and here she doesn not disappoint . lot of special moment . positive .