I saw movie on cable in early 00’s. Movie was late 90’s early 00’s. There was a married couple who took in a blonde boy ( either temp. or adopted outright, not sure ). The couple lived in a small community in a mountainous wooded area and ran some sort of store ( either gift or general store ). They had a debate early on regarding their ability to take care of a kid ( which may have been a convo discussing whether to make temp. permanent ). The kid may or may not have been related by blood. The boy had trust/resentment issues. He had doubts about the sincerity of the couple’s affection ( i.e. faked or at least wouldn’t last ). There was a grandfatherly figure ( may have been the father of the man or woman but otherwise a neighbor ) who taught the boy to fish. I remember a scene where the boy was about to jump in a lake ( with rocks or some other hazard ) and being told to be careful or don’t do that but the had a “what do you care” attitude. I may be confusing the next part with another movie but I believe the end or a near end scene dealt with the boy running away and being found on or near a cliff in heavy rain.
Could you be thinking of On Golden Pond?
No. Totally different movie. Not to mention much older than movie I’m looking for.
I wanna say: Secondhand Lions
http://youtu.be/hzElnBgsr0s
Oh Good Lord, no.
I’ve long since found this movie. It’s called Choosing Matthias from 2001. Apparently, Matthias was a foster child the father wanted to adopt but the mother, still hurting from the loss of their biological son, was afraid to open her heart to another child as she didn’t want to risk losing another. Later she refers to herself as having “buried her heart” so it wouldn’t be broken again. The jumping into the lake scene wasn’t so much a dangerous scene as it the old man warned him he would get goosebumps from the cold water and the kid shyly slunk away as opposed to copping an attitude. The cliff part was right ( except for the rain ) and the cliff was an isolated spot where the mother (conveniently for the plot ) went to metaphorically bury her heart. The boy almost slips off and is saved by the mother.
Wow, thanks for letting us know! Six years later most people would have forgotten they even posted this.