there but had forgotten to mail the postcards to his parents, and he did not want them to think he'd forgotten them. The travelers would mail the cards for him when they arrived at their destination. The family receives a harassing phone call from one of the townspeople. Ben bitterly mocks the caller and offers an impassioned defense of his son. Touched by his father's sincerity, Jacob opens up and explains what happened. He had been fighting with Martha when she revealed that she was pregnant, in addition to the fact that she had been sleeping with several other boys. They made up, but while they made love in Jacob's car, they got snowed in. Unable to free the car through a variety of methods, they decided to try to jack one end of the car up while they packed snow under the other end. Their fight reignited and got violent. Martha swung a crowbar at Jacob and missed him by an inch. He charged at her, knocking her to the ground. She landed face first on the jack and was killed. Ben decides that it is best to not reveal the truth. He coaches Jacob on a different version of the story, which they tell to their lawyer, but the plan goes awry when Ben is deposed by the grand jury and realizes that there is no father-son privilege which exempts him from testifying. When Carolyn is called to testify, she reveals the truth. Jacob's lawyer is incensed, but he explains that he will simply treat Carolyn as a hostile witness and her testimony will amount to hearsay, since it conflicts with Jacob's account of the events. When Ben discovers what Carolyn has done, he is furious. A family argument ensues and in the morning, Jacob is missing again. He turns up at the police station, where he has given a full confession. As a minor, he needs his parents to sign his confession. Ben refuses, explaining that he could never sign anything that took Jacob away from him. Jacob is sentenced to five years for involuntary manslaughter, but is released after only 2 years with probation, and Ben is sentenced to almost one year for his cover up. The family relocates to Miami. Cast Meryl Streep as Dr. Carolyn Ryan Liam Neeson as Ben Ryan Edward Furlong as Jacob Ryan Julia Weldon as Judith Ryan Alfred Molina as