You were born genetically to keep your sibling alive since your parents are not a compatible match. Many years went by and you feel that you have a right to your body. What’s the next thing to you, you file a lawsuit seeking medical emancipation from your parents to keep them from making future decisions of your body. How will this choice affect your family, yourself, and the life you were born to save. This describes the powerful melodrama, My Sister’s Keeper. This is the one of those films that raises tough, thought-provoking ethical questions.
Based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Piccoult, the film focused on the journey of the Fitzgerald family. Brian & Sara Fitzgerald (Jason Patric & Cameron Diaz) found out that their eldest daughter Kate was diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia at two years old. Conceived by means of in vitro fertilization, Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) was brought into the world to be a genetic match for Kate. Anna suffers throughout her life to be there for her sister when she needs her. Anna, now 11, is called again to help out Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) when goes into renal failure. They will need Anna’s kidney in order for Kate to survive. Anna decides that enough was enough. Although, she loves her sister dearly, she wants a life of her own. So she seeks the help of Attorney Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents for medical emancipation. Stunned at first, but Campbell agreed to the take the case.
My Sister’s Keeper really tugs at the heartstrings with showing how a family not only struggles with a dying child but how the conflicts came to be through flashbacks from the characters’ point of view. Sara, a former lawyer, dropped everything to preserve the life of eldest daughter Kate against all odds. Brian, a firefighter, is calm, level-headed, and supportive through it all. Brother Jesse has been lost through the shuffle between Kate’s illness, Anna’s fight for her medical independence, and the parents trying to keep the family grounded. Little did Brian & Sara knew that Jesse has a problem of his own that they fail to notice. The movie is filled with tense moments. The courtroom scenes were very compelling. Director Nick Cassavetes provided a great melodrama this summer, but he heavily relied on voice-overs explaining sometimes the obvious actions on screen.
Cameron Diaz, who is more of a comedic actress, gets high praise as her portrayal as the stoic mother Sara. Diaz’s interaction with the family was very true to form of a parent who wanted nothing more than to keep her child alive. At the same time, Sara rarely shown her vulnerability throughout the film, but finally shows it towards the end when Kate sat her down and told her that everything will be okay when she passes on. I give kudos to Abigail Breslin as well, Breslin is definitely the next Meryl Streep. Breslin’s portrayal as Anna was truly amazing. Anna wants the life she always crave and wants to be involved in sports but had to give up her dreams to be there for Kate. Breslin has shined in nearly every role she had to date. This is one of her best performances ever. I have a feeling that we are just getting a taste of her ultimate acting range.
Alec Baldwin provided some bits of comic relief as Campbell Alexander. He shows compassion and understanding for Anna yet, he had to tolerate and set some common sense to her mother Sara. I also must give praise to Sofia Vassilieva for her portrayal as elder daughter Kate Fitzgerald. Not only did Sofia actually shaved her head for the role, but her on-screen performance was outstanding. Kate, who is fighting a bout with Leukemia, showed true courage in the face of adversity. Your heart went out for Kate as she goes through all the emotions that any illness can bring to a human being.
This movie can hit close to home. With great characters and a wonderful story, My Sister’s Keeper has shown that a family, no matter what, will always be there for each other.
FINAL GRADE: A+ for appreciating the gift of life
"My Sister's Keeper" is the touching story of a family of five dealing with leukemia. Good performances (especially Cameron Diaz) and realistic scenes.
GRADE = "B"
I thought the acting is this movie was marginal. The movie has it's moments of emotion which are moving but the people in the movie make it all seem very predictable yet entirely unrealistic. Poor casting, in my opinion. Diaz is unemotional, Anna is too over-the-top happy, Baldwin is too cocky to be altruistic. The directors could have chosen to cast a more believeable extended familly. Siblings of Diaz and her husband are model-esque in appearance, all eating pizza in Anna's hosptial room on what likely will be her last night. The directors could have chosen actors who would better represent the norm so that the viewer can focus on the performance and story line. Even Anna's boyfriend is gorgous (yet another unbelievalbe plot – that Anna would stumble upon a drop dead gorgeous boy who- surprise- happens to be getting chemo and they fall in love, then he dies). The actors fail to reel in the audience in this one. The movie could have been another 'Terms of Endearment' but fails to deliver.