A Florida couple deals with an unexpected pregnancy while holding minimum-wage jobs.

Hard-working convenience store clerk Melissa and her disabled boyfriend Richie are trapped in a generational cycle of poverty. Their luck may be changing when they learn that Melissa has become pregnant. But as soon as she loses her job and they get evicted from the motel they live in, their joy vanishes.

At heart a love story, the movie reveals the tremendous obstacles minimum wage workers face to have a decent life in this country. Watts is haunting in an understated performance as Melissa, a convenience store worker with dreams of going to college and improving her life. She's in love with Richie (Dylan) a paraplegic, who also wants to make a better life for himself and protect her from her menacing ex-boyfriend, played wonderfully by Norman Reedus.

The beauty of Melissa and Richie's love shines through the bleak circumstances of their lives in Florida through convincing dialog that focuses as much on what's left unsaid as on their actual words. On the whole, Sunlight Jr. is a poignant and believable story conveyed by enormous talent...

Director: Laurie Collyer
Writer: Laurie Collyer (screenplay)
Stars: Naomi Watts, Matt Dillon, Tess Harper