That's what friends are for.

Renee Zellweger plays a social worker who gets drawn into a case involving an abused child. The parents are apparently deranged and the little girl in extreme danger. Soft-hearted Renee gets talked into looking after her, and after a probationary period, to actually adopting her.

Of course, any sane viewer will have seen right from the start, that this little girl is not quite what she seems to be.

When weird things start happening, Renee begins to realise what she has let herself in for.

In her panic, she turns to Ryan Gosling,playing a children's counsellor and an old friend.

Ryan is not around very long after that, so a lot of women will have been disappointed. Including me. But he has the best horror scene and makes a spectacular exit.

Renee is a weird looking woman and this was probably why she was cast in the role. She has the kind of face that twists itself into varying expressions - fear, pain, love and ecstasy-which are all remarkably similar. And then there is the squint. And the little wee-wee voice that I always find quite frightening.

The little girl is good and quite scary, but not as scary as Renee.

It might give you nightmares if you watch it just before bed.