My Sister’s Keeper (2009) – on rental. The other film to arrive alongside Hachiko: A Dog’s Story was My Sister’s Keeper. I was only vaguely aware of this adaption of a book of the same title on account that during the run-up to the nominations for this year’s Academy Award for Best Actresses, Cameron Diaz’s name was mentioned in a few places for her role in this film.
And what a pleasant find this film was: it’s poignant, deeply thought-provoking and a acting Tour de Force from the cast concerned. It moved me where Hachiko just couldn’t, and while Ling didn’t see this film with me as she was resting, I’m pretty sure she’ll want to after she reads my post here on it.:)
The story tells of the Fitzgerald family: Kate Fitzgerald (Sofia Vassilieva) is diagnosed from an early age to be suffering acute promyelocytic leukemia. In order to save her life, parents Brian (Jason Patric) and Sara (Diaz) who also have another son Jesse decide to conceive a third child, Anna (Abigail Breslin, previously seen in No Reservations), with the specific intent of donating body parts, stem cells and blood to keep Kate alive. As Anna explains it, she’s a designer baby.
While the family faces and deals with the growing tragedy to their best of abilities, things turn for a worse when Anna decides she’s had enough of having her own body cut up to save her sister. She’s terrified of donating one of her kidneys and losing any chance of leading an otherwise normal life. She wants out, even if it means the death of her own sister. So she engages a lawyer, Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) to sue her own parents for partial termination of parental rights.
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The story is told through each family member’s point of view. Every family character gets some air-time as they share their memories and perspectives through voice-overs, and the film’s time line jumps a bit. It takes a small bit of time for each scene to establish its position in the story’s time line, but the method is surprisingly effective. Each scene lets you in a little more on the Fitzgeralds, and near the film’s end you would have had a reasonably complete picture of what really was going on with Anna’s lawsuit.
The film’s themes are centered strongly on not just parental and sibling love and how close-knit families deal with tragedy, but also the issue of willing deaths and donor contributions when minors are involved. The dilemmas are profound. The best dramas have you rooting for both sides. And as I watched My Sister’s Keeper, I found myself swaying between points of view: Sara’s motherly and utter defiance of all odds to save her daughter, Anna’s fear at not being able to live a normal life, and Brian and Jesse getting caught in the middle.
To the film’s credit too: while Cameron Diaz gets first billing, her role doesn’t dominate at the expense of the other parts. Each family member get at least a significant amount of screen time, though the bulk of it remains squarely centered on the tripartite relationship between Sara (picture above, center) and the two sisters, Kate (left) and Anna (right). Breslin’s Anna is attractive to watch: she never overplays her scenes, and comes across as extremely likable, spirited and deeply loving of her sister despite her law suit. Sofia Vassilieva’s performance as Kate is on the other hand simply magnificent and deserving of the award nominations for her role here. As Kate fights the pain of her cancer and general hopelessness of her condition, you’ll feel for her.
The incredible cast isn’t just limited to the Fitzgeralds. Baldwin could have dialed in an opportunistic number as the lawyer who takes on Anna’s case, and while the early scenes might suggest that his role is defined that way, a revelation late in the film briefly reveals a story point that would have you seeing him in a completely different light. Veteran actress Joan Cusack plays a weary yet emphatic Judge presiding over the suit: and as we learn, she herself has just barely recovered from the tragic death of her own young daughter. There are a few scenes which touch on her memories, and it’s hard not to be moved when you see the rush and return of emotions still barely suppressed.
The film isn’t easy to watch too, on account that it sort of tears at you inside when you find yourself agreeing and seeing the point of argument from all sides. Moreover, the pain of suffering leukemia till terminal stages is seen in all detail here – and it’s heart-breaking.
Of the films I’ve watched this year: alongside Inglorious Basterds which I five-starred, My Sister’s Keeper is my second unqualified recommendation from me this year. If you’re up to being moved by a powerful and complex yet unconventional story of tragedy and love – that isn’t choke full of cutesy and contrived scenes of man and dog bonding – look no further.
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