Hi, I'm Jim. I'm 60 (God help me!) and I enjoy cinema, reading, cooking and stuff. I've got a Cine...
Hi, I'm Jim. I'm 60 (God help me!) and I enjoy cinema, reading, cooking and stuff. I've got a Cineworld card and watch 50-60 movies a year not counting TV and DVD. I read 20-30 books a year.
Member since:01.11.2009
Reviews:12
Members who trust:1
One thing you know you’re going to get with Jodi Picoult is a thought-provoking moral dilemma. In this case, the plot revolves around sisters, the younger of which, Anna, played by Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine – wow!, Nim’s Island – yuk!), has been conceived by ivf to provide a medical bank of spare parts for her older sister, Kate, played by Sofia Vassilieva (outstanding performance), who suffers from cancer. This has meant that Anna’s life has been totally dictated by Kate’s needs, and she has never been able to do things she wanted. When, eventually, Kate suffers kidney failure, her mother (Cameron Diaz, doing much better in the role than I would have expected) sets everything up for Anna to donate her kidney. However, Anna refuses and seeks out a top lawyer (Alec Baldwin, nice competent turn), who agrees to work pro bono on her case, so that she can claim control over her own body. The mother, obsessed with saving Kate’s life, fights the case and takes it to court. Watch the film if you want to know how it works out.
This is a real tear-jerker, and the central performance by Sofia Vassilieva really brings across Kate’s pain, without ever really relegating her to the level of helpless victim, portraying with real sincerity how she manages to find happiness and love before the disease finally claims her.
Nick Cassavetes does a workman-like job behind the camera. The script moves along freely enough and gives the actors every opportunity of getting the story across, although it does provide a couple of examples of something that really irritates me. In Hollyworld, when a book is adapted to a film, why do they make gratuitous changes that the story doesn’t need? The film stands up on its own, so if you haven’t read the book it’s not an issue.
On balance, this is a competent rather than a great movie, and there’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on that’s stopping it from bridging that gap.
My Rating: because it’s not my kind of film and I actually didn’t like it, my rating is 1/10, but that’s highly subjective. Objectively, it’s worth a 5/10.
This review also posted on Dooyoo.
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Drama - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Shelagh Fraser, Barbara Flynn, Keith Drinkel, Felicity Kendal, Pam Ferris, Colin Douglas
Now a major film. Sara Fitzgerald's daughter Kate is just two years old when she is ... more
diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Reeling with the helpless shock of it Sara knows she will do anything -- whatever it takes - to save her child. Then the tests...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Based on the best-selling novel, Nick Cassavetes My Sister's Keeper stars Cameron Diaz and ... more
Jason Patric as a married couple whose life is altered forever when they discover their two year old daughter Kate has leukemia. Their only hope to save Kate is ...
Based on the best-selling novel, Nick Cassavetes My Sister's Keeper stars Cameron Diaz and ... more
Jason Patric as a married couple whose life is altered forever when they discover their two year old daughter Kate has leukemia. Their only hope to save Kate is ...
Advantages: Beautifully filmed, Beautifully acted, and just a fantastic story Disadvantages: You will very likely cry your eyes out. Costs you more money as you have to buy tissues :D
Nov 5th, 2009
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