What price would you pay to save the life of someone you love? What extraordinary lengths would you go to to protect a loved one’s right to die peacefully? The answers to these fundamental questions are explored in Director Nick Cassavetes’ gripping film adaptation of the novel My Sister’s Keeper. This is an eloquent and sobering portrait of a family ripped apart over the impending death of their cancer-stricken daughter.
Cameron Diaz is outstanding in her gritty performance of Sara Fitzgerald, a mother who is faced with two major battles – a fight to save her eldest daughter Anna’s (played by Sofia Vassilieva) life and a legal dispute with her youngest child Kate (Abigail Breslin) who refuses to donate her own kidney to help the family’s cause. From the onset, Kate is tormented by both a sibling’s secret and the notion that she is being used as a guinea pig to prolong her sister’s suffering. Cassavetes takes artistic liberty by altering the ending of film. (No Spoilers here!) But My Sister’s Keeper retains the poignant message of the film that it is the choices people make – not tragedy – that binds or severs kindred relationships.
Breslin is nothing short of sensational in her resonating performance as Kate who is at the epicenter of the family tragedy. Alec Baldwin, in his supporting role as Kate’s lawyer, is a charming yet tragic figure. He’s plagued by medical issues, which reveal his altruistic intentions for taking Kate’s case. But Diaz delivers her first Oscar-worthy performance as a determined mother unwilling to come to grips with Anna’s terminal prognosis.
In the movie, Breslin identifies giving birth as an act of chance and not “planned.” Moviegoers will empathize with both sisters’ plights. Each daughter makes fundamental choices that will alter their lives. Anna tries to “seize the day” before her battle with leukemia comes to a close. Meanwhile, Kate must accept the fact that her well-being has been largely dismissed by her parents and her actions have irrevocably changed their relationship forever. For the viewer, it's time to make the right choice: make My Sister’s Keeper your next priority!
Grade: A
In The Spotlight: A Preview of My Sister's Keeper
