Full Review

It's hard to fault viewers for approaching "Daltry Calhoun" (Miramax) with low expectations. After all, it stars Johnny Knoxville, whose claim to fame was indulging in sophomoric stunts as poster boy of MTV's appropriately titled "Jackass."

Which is what makes this modestly endearing film all the more pleasantly surprising.

Set in small-town Tennessee, the tale centers on the entrepreneur Daltry (Knoxville), a reformed good-for-nothing who picked himself up by his bootstraps and built a sod empire supplying grade-A grass to golf courses.

In doing so, he found spiritual fulfillment on the links, awakening in him the desire to make amends for past mistakes and become a better man.

The film opens with a flashback detailing how 14 years earlier the pre-self-made turf tycoon had abandoned his girlfriend, May (Elizabeth Banks), and their infant daughter, June.

Fast forward, with Daltry's rags-to-riches story facing a reversal of fortune. May shows up on his doorstep with June (Sophie Traub) -- now a precocious, musically gifted teenager who has no idea Daltry is her dad -- in tow. May informs him that she is dying and asks Daltry to take over the parenting reins after she is gone.

From there on, the film focuses on Daltry's efforts to reconnect with June.

Though he occasionally resorts to mugging his way through scenes, Knoxville is appealingly sympathetic. Traub conveys awkward adolescence with charm. Together they manage some genuinely tender moments.

Directed by Katrina Holden Bronson, the film has its problems, among them a rambling script and competing story lines. Undercooked plot threads include Daltry's romance with a smitten, widowed shopkeeper (Juliette Lewis), and June's infatuation with an Australian lawn doctor (Kick Gurry) working for her father. Also left dangling is a sweet digression involving June trying to teach Daltry's simple-minded groundskeeper (David Koechner) to read.

But the narrative bumps and divots are smoothed over by the film's heartfelt emotion and redemptive message about hope and second chances.

The film contains an implied sexual encounter, some sexual discussions, underage drinking and smoking, a mildly irreverent scene, brief fisticuffs, and scattered crude language and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.