Friday, July 31, 2009

MY SISTER'S KEEPER

Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Jason Patrick, Sofia Vassilieva, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack


Cinema 7, SM Megamall




Although I never read Jodi Picoult's novel, I've heard rave reviews about it. At first I thought the film would focus on the legal battle about medical emancipation. I'm glad it didn't. Instead, this film was a family drama filled with warmth, compassion and utterly heart wrecking moments. I cried several times during the film. I thought I was going to drown in my tears. Hehe.

I like the fact that the main characters narrate their innermost thoughts during certain parts of the film. It is much more expressive. The cast all played their roles with gusto. I never thought much of Cameron Diaz before but here she essayed the stoic mother role, poignantly. It was heart breaking during the highly emotional hospital scene where she finally breaks down in the arms of her dying daughter. It was her way of coming to terms with her daughter's desire to stop fighting her illness and simply let go. Abigail Breslin as Anna, the daughter genetically conceived to help her older sister never fails to amaze me with her acting talent. For someone so young, I wonder where she draws her strength in portraying such anguished characters. Sofia Vassilieva as Kate was such a beautiful character inside and out. Despite her sickly demeanor, whenever she smiled she simply lit up the hospital room and the movie itself. She had a radiant spirit and a beautiful soul. I simply fell in love with her portrayal of Kate.

The film was interspersed with a few flashback scenes of happier times. The plot was coherent and well played out. Although sometimes the sappy mushy music tend to over dramatize the situations. I read that the scriptwriters changed the ending for the movie. If you ask me, I figure the film's ending is much more realistic. The movie addresses the issues of life (a child conceived for medical purposes) and death in a light and sensitive manner without bordering too much on the legal implications of medical emancipation. But nonetheless it is a feel good family movie just remember to load up on tissue paper and hankies to wipe those tears away!

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