My Sister's Keeper Movie Review

MY SISTER'S KEEPER: NOT EVEN FIT TO BE A LIFETIME MOVIE

In My Sister's Keeper, director Nick Cassavetes' (The Notebook) manages to butcher a tear jerker about a family torn apart by leukemia. The story doesn't flow and as a result scenes feel disjointed. Its two A-listers, Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin, don't know what to do with themselves. As a result, it isn't worth your hanky.

Anna (Abigail Breslin) is the youngest of the Fitzgeralds. Her older sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) has had leukemia since she was young. Anna was conceived so she could be there medically for Kate when needed. Anna has decided she has had enough. She gets in touch with infamous lawyer Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) so she can sue her parents for medical emancipation. When her mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) finds out, she flies into a rage and refuses to see Anna's side. But the rest of the family is not so sure and doesn't know what to think. What they don't know is that Anna has a secret. And the question is will it come out before the end of the trial?

     The film is based on the book of the same name by Jodi Picoult. Picoult is a talented writer who likes to present moral dilemmas that aren't black and white. My Sister's Keeper is definitely one of her most famous books. Director Cassavetes and screenwriter Jeremy Leven obviously don't have any respect for Picoult and her story. The scenes go back and forth between Kate's heartbreaking struggle with leukemia and Anna trying to pursue her case. It leaves you feeling disconnected. The one scene that will make you cry also makes you feel manipulated. Diaz as the unforgiving mother doesn't give the audience anything to make you empathize with her because she is so hell bent on one child and not even considering the other, with her only emotion being anger. And Baldwin as Anna's lawyer seems lost. Its almost like he doesn't know how he got put in the movie. Los Angeles stands in for the backdrop. There is nothing distinguishable about the location except for the Fitzgeralds' house, which looks like it belongs on the East Coast.
     The focus needed to be on one plot point at a time rather rather than throwing its audience from one scene to the next.

My Sister's Keeper is just not good. It will still make you cry but that has more to do with the subject matter as opposed to the director's ability. Any of the female driven cable channels out there could have done a better job of bringing this novel to life.

Report Card:

Story-D+

Acting-D+

Visuals-C

Originality/Innovation-D

Enjoyability Grade–D

Overall Grade-D+