Nora is a single mother-of-two who still wants to live the life of a young artist in the 1970s, as do her friends, a group of writers, singers and actors. The free love' philosophy isn't quite out of the system  and Nora didn't count on falling in love, particularly with a junkie. Hazlehurst won her first of two AFI Awards in the space of four years for her amazing portrayal of Nora, who makes sure she does the right thing by her children, but falls in love with junkie Javo (Friels) at the same time. Garner  who would later costar in films such as LOVE AND OTHER CATASTROPHES and STRANGE PLANET  is well-cast as Nora's pre-pubescent daughter, and Caton (perhaps in readiness for his role as host of the lifestyle program HOT PROPERTY in 2000???) appears as a bearded painter. Early effort by director Cameron is a winner; he went on to make the award-winning miniseries MY BROTHER JACK among his later projects. But it's the stunning delivery by Hazlehurst which brings to life the intelligent, searching script, based on Helen Garner's award-winning novel.