At the film's center is Blake Morrison himself, who for as long as he can remember has lived in the overarching shadow of his physician father, Arthur (Jim Broadbent) -- falling prey to feelings of embarrassment from the old man, as well as occasional awe. The central dynamic has changed for the two, however, by the late '80s, when Blake -- now married to Kathy (Gina McKee) and freshly established as a successful novelist and poet -- learns that Arthur has contracted terminal cancer.