I resisted going to see “My Sister’s Keeper” because I feared that director Nick Cassavetes was going to be overly manipulative, making this a weepy tale of family conflict and death. Instead I found a perceptive drama with just the right balance between emotional impact and restraint. And the actors deserve high praise; all of the performances are excellent. “My Sister’s Keeper” illustrates the effects an illness of a child has on a family, especially on a family that has used genetic engineering to create a ‘donor baby.’ From the moment Anna (Abigail Breslin) was born, she donated something, blood, bone marrow, to prolong her sister Kate’s (Sofia Vassileva) life. Now, Kate’s mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) wants Anna to donate a kidney and Anna refuses. Her brother (Evan Ellinson), father (Jason Patric) and Kate support her, but Sara is hurt and angry. Sara’s blind devotion to saving her daughter has caused her to lose sight of the person at the heart of the conflict not to mention what it’s doing to the rest of the family. The movie touches on the ethical issue of the rights of a child, any child, to have a say about what happens to her body. For Anna, this means obtaining a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) and suing her parents for medical emancipation.
The performances are compelling. Diaz, best known for light romantic comedies, shows she can handle drama, especially one that requires depth. Breslin and Vassileva seem like real sisters and when the scene requires emotion, there’s naturalness to their interaction. Patric’s restrained approach to the father caught between wife and daughter is perfect and Baldwin delivers a controlled portrayal of a lawyer with an ulterior motive for taking Anna’s case. Perhaps the most moving piece of acting comes from Joan Cusack, who provides a heartbreaking picture of a judge who has just lost her daughter. The screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel by Jodi Picoult, employs flashbacks and voiceover narration, resulting in an effective way to present the story. “My Sister’s Keeper” is about dying, but it’s part of the cycle of life and people move on. Emotional? Certainly. But it’s not overly sentimental or manipulative. 7/9/09
1 comment:
To start with, I don't really like Cameron Diaz. I don't always go to her movies and I could have very easily missed this one. We decided to go see it after we had seen everything else that was out right now and so, reluctantly, we saw it. I was pleasantly surprised with both the performance of Ms Diaz and with the quality of the film. Like the blogger, I expected a syrupy tearful drama trying their best to elicit our most tender feelings. I was wrong. I give it a 3 1/2 Bagger out of a possible 5 (popcorn)
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