Jack & Sarah

Sarah (Imogen Stubbs) dies while in childbirth. Her immature lawyer husband Jack (Richard E. Grant) has always shirked responsibility, so instead of taking care of his newborn daughter, he runs off on a bender. But when he does return, his upper crust parents, Margaret (Dame Judi Dench) and Michael (David Swift), and Sarah's more down-to-Earth mother, Phil (Dame Eileen Atkins), force the care of the baby on Jack. Jack does come to the realization of his responsibilities and feeling a connection between his daughter and his wife, he names the baby "Sarah". Although he takes primary care of her for the first few months, he decides to hire a day nanny rather than to leave the child-caring to those that offer, including Margaret and Michael, Phil, and William (Sir Ian McKellen), a homeless man who Jack befriended on his bender and hires to do his housekeeping. Rather than hire an officious nanny, Jack wants someone who will love Sarah. His choice is a young American woman named Amy (Samantha Mathis), who he met while she was doing a not-so-good job waitressing. Hiring Amy is much to Margaret's chagrin, especially as Amy has no training or experience whatsoever with babies, and to William's chagrin, as he and Amy have two different living styles. Amy comes literally and figuratively with baggage, the latter being an on-again/off-again relationship with her former employer Alain (Laurent Grevill). After time, Jack also feels the need to get on with his adult life, the woman he chooses being Anna, one of the much disliked partners at the law firm. Jack and Amy try and navigate through their concurrent lives living together, while skirting the issue of what is happening between them besides the care of baby Sarah.