Earnest and well-intentioned, Brian Silverman‘s “2 Lives in Pittsburgh” begins with confusion that turns towards compassion before drifting into cloying and finishing up with a hearty “Oh COME on.”

Writer, director and co-star Silverman stuffs wrinkles, revelations and pointless complications into what might have been a tidy, intimate tale of a working class Joe who realizes his kid’s not into baseball and hockey for a reason.

Yes, that’s simplistic and old fashioned, but that’s kind of where this picture is parked. The little boy — played by Emma Basques — goes on strike rather than play one more game of catch with the old man. Fifth grader Matty sees herself as “Maddie,” and the dressing up in private can only become something more overt if that most important adult in Maddie’s life is made aware and talked into accepting it.

Silverman’s Bernie is a professional handyman whose biggest client is the assisted living facility where his crusty, oxygen-bottle-towing smoker/drinker Mom (Annie O’Donnell) lives and where his favorite nurse (Delissa Reynolds) is head caregiver.

Maddie starts with discussions about her name. By the time Bernie is summoned to meet with the fifth grade teacher (Mark McLain Wilson) it’s obvious he has suspected something is up, despite his protests to the contrary.

“He’s TEN. How’s he SUPPOSED to ‘see himself?'”

The fact that he used to bully that teacher back in high school is the first of many above-and-beyond complications Silverman starts sprinkling over this sweet story — sugary bits that make it take a turn towards diabetic coma by the third act.

Bernie’s working class pals — with whom he shares a LOT — tell him “Toughen’em up. Put’em in hockey.” Throwing away the kid’s stuffed animal collection is a start.

And hey, he’s 10. Why’s he still need help taking a bath?

“2 Lives in Pittsburgh” has a message and a theme, a text and some subtext. What it lacks is a realistic depiction of parenting and working class relationships. Sure, mothers might chat about intimate things their kids are going through. A bunch of beer swilling Steelers fanboys? Only in sitcoms.

We learn more about Bernie and we start to get the kid’s connection with Bernie’s mom as Silverman continues to workshop this script while shooting it, figuring out what the “real” status of the various relationships is, as if hiding this or blurring that will add something to the story.

Touching on bigotry of various types and slinging a few slurs may give the narrative the veneer of a “realistic” edge. But the buy-in is too tough, with Silverman getting the superficials right about his character, but never quite connecting as a “parent.”

Matty/Maddie’s bullying and response to it is mostly off camera, but Basques still makes a convincing boy who is growing more certain that gender is wrong.

The grandma stuff, the guys-being-guys bonding, all of that just plays as cute. And by the time the misguided decision is made for others to play dress-up, the picture lapses into some sort of idealized, cloying wish-fulfillment fantasy.

Because if there’s anything more obvious about American life right now, it’s that a lot of the country and a solid majority of this class has a much tougher journey to take to achieve tolerance.

Rating: 18+, sexuality, smoking, profanity and slurs

Cast: Brian Silverman, Emma Basques, Mark McLain Wilson, Delissa Reynolds and Annie O’Donnell.

Credits: Scripted and directed by Brian Silverman. An Amazon Prime Video release.

Running time: 1:31