Question by Rina C: someone write my a movie review? someone write me a movie review* someone write me a movie review pleaseeeeee.. i neeed it by tomorrow morning, i havent seen ANY movies lately :( and im desperate for one. Its for the schools newspaper UGH! help me? ANY MOVIE . Best answer: Answer by JessA surprisingly lovely movie about an absolutely awful subject, My Sisters Keeper features what also may be the years first performance worthy of Oscar mention. That performance does not come from headliners Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin or Alec Baldwin, although they are all very fine. It comes from Sofia Vassilieva, a co-star on TVs Medium; and the wonder is that it manages to be both breathtaking and well-centered, avoiding showboating while still delivering maximum emotional impact. Walking such a line is difficult when playing a dying teenage girl, but Vassilieva pulls it off beautifully. Also walking a difficult line is director Nick Cassavetes, who co-wrote the screenplay adapted from the Jodi Picoult novel along with Jeremy Leven. Cassavetes has proven with two wildly different films -- the ultra-romantic The Notebook and the harrowing suburban horror-show Alpha Dog -- that hes keen to bring difficult material to fruition. And the material here is downright dangerous, constantly veering toward easy sentiment, maudlin melodrama and precious plot turns. Yet Cassavetes keeps it all under control. Any film about a family watching one of its members slowly die is going to be a bit weepy, and why shouldnt it? But My Sisters Keeper never becomes the trite, hundred-hankie affair you expect. Simply put, its better than that. Breslin plays Anna Fitzgerald, now 11 but conceived as a test tube baby so she could provide matching blood and parts to help keep her now 15-year-old sister Kate (Vassilieva) alive. The girls mother Sara (Diaz) is fiercely committed to doing anything to save Kate from the cancer thats been consuming her since toddlerhood, while father Brian (Jason Patric) keeps a wary and worried eye on how Kates condition has infected the entire familys way of life. Also in the mix is middle brother Jesse (Evan Ellingson), somewhat overlooked and leaning toward delinquency but still tightly bound to his sisters. Which is why Jesse accompanies Anna when she approaches a lawyer (Baldwin) for representation. Kate is in dire need of a kidney and Sara is offering up Annas. Anna is tired of having her body dissected without having any say in the matter. She wants to become a medically emancipated minor. Sara knows nothing about this until a process server hands her the papers saying shes being sued. Meanwhile Kate lies in a hospital bed, sure to die if she doesnt get Annas kidney. The story is revealed from various angles, both in terms of flashbacks and perspectives, and the film, while also being about Kates personal struggle, is just as much about the impact that such a tragedy has on an entire family. Sara becomes an obsessed monster, Jesse is forgotten, Brian is constantly torn and Annas life is lived in Kates shadow. Cassavetes cant balance all of this perfectly -- a few surprises toward the end seem a few too many -- but he catches so many moments in the right way (clueless members of the extended family; a judges dilemma; Kates brief romance) that he impresses far more than misses. With Vassilievas heart-rending performance at its center, My Sisters Keeper is a sharp exploration of the extended impact of illness and death. No, its not a good time, but its a time worth having. Add your own answer in the comments!
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 15:00:27 +0000
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