1940年，日本一方面深陷中国战场，另一方面与英美等国关系日益紧张。居住在东京的野上一家本来过着平静而幸福的生活。只是在这战争年代，幸福是多么奢侈和脆弱的一件事。身为进步作家的一家之长野上滋（坂东三津五郎 饰）因左倾思想被当局以妨害治安维持法的罪名逮捕，不久即受迫害致死。妻子佳代（吉永小百合 饰）强忍悲痛，坚强地抚养一双女儿初子（志田未来 饰）与照美（佐藤未来 饰）。他用自己一生的幸福和无私的母爱，护佑着孩子们健康成长……本片根据黑泽明生前的御用场记野上照代所创作的自传体小说《给父亲的安魂曲》改编。

爱家男子雷·库珀发誓要让制药公司付出代价，因为在他的妻子（阿德里娅·阿霍纳饰）死于癌症之前，该公司将一种或能救命的药物从市场上撤下。然而，这场真相探寻之旅却让他和女儿瑞秋（伊莎贝拉·梅塞德饰）陷入险境，自此雷的任务变成了复仇，以保护自己唯一的家人。

黛西（朱莉娅·罗伯茨 Julia Roberts 饰）一直希望能够通过婚姻来改变自己生活的境遇，哪知道金龟婿不是那么好钓的，在梦想成真之前，她必须学会躲避种种陷阱。凯特（安娜贝丝·吉什 Annabeth Gish 饰）过着自食其力的生活，为了赚钱做着临时保姆的兼职，哪知道竟然在误打误撞之中爱上了男主人。娇娇（莉莉·泰勒 Lili Taylor 饰）想要充分享受恋爱里的甜蜜和幸福，却不愿意承担婚姻所带来的重负和责任，这让娇娇的男友十分苦恼，他一心想要和娇娇携手步入婚姻的殿堂。这三个性格迥异的女孩聚集在神奇披萨屋内，成为了那里的女服务生。在探索人生道路的途中她们互相作伴，互相开解，并且最终都寻找到了生命中真正重要的东西。

In court for murder, Professor Moriarty is released seconds before Holmes arrives, too late, with vital evidence. Free again Moriarty vows to Holmes that his next crime will be so fiendish and amazing that Holmes's reputation will be finished. Moriarty sets about a fiendish plot involving the crown jewels and a series of mysteries to distract Holmes's mind.I enjoy most of this series as they all seem to run to the same formula. Here the plot goes back to basics and adds more of the mystery and less of the comedy. The plot is an enjoyable battle of wits between the two great minds. The downside is that the side-mystery that Moriarty sets up takes up the majority of the time and the two don't cross swords as well as they do in a gentlemanly beginning. The mystery surrounding Miss Brandon works OK but not really great as you know the whole time who is behind it and why. The jump to the crown jewels is too easily made and is a bit of a letdown.The comedy is less evident than usual but is still there. However it is overwhelmed by the more serious side. Bruce still does well but I was glad that he stood up to Holmes more than usual – telling him off for treating him like a child and such like. Rathbone is a good Holmes but his logic was off here and I wasn't as impressed by him as I usually am. Zucco is an interesting foil, but doesn't get enough time to work here. Lupino in an early role is interesting but a little too heavy and tads to overplay her tension a bit.Overall this is an OK addition to the series. The plot is reasonable but focuses too much on the diversion than the central characters and the reduction in comedy makes it feel a lot heavier than usual.