Sam, of course, has his O.C. - style melodrama to contend with, since his rich kid adversary from the recent academic
decathlon is flirting with his dream girl Laura (Emmy Rossum), while Sam's mom (Sela Ward) sits bedside with a young cancer patient in a cloying side - story (further ruined by Harald Kloser's prosaic
score) meant to warm our frostbitten hearts.