• Friday, June 26, 2009

• Language:

  English

2009

Sara and Brian Fitzgerald's life with their young son and their two-year-old daughter, Kate, is forever altered when they learn that Kate has leukemia. The parents' only hope is to conceive another child, specifically intended to save Kate's life. For some, such genetic engineering would raise both moral and ethical questions; for the Fitzgeralds, Sara in particular, there is no choice but to do whatever it takes to keep Kate alive. And what it takes is Anna.

Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) and Anna (Abigail Breslin) share a bond closer than most sisters: though Kate is older, she relies on her little sister--in fact, her life depends on Anna.

Throughout their young lives, the sisters endure various medical procedures and hospital stays--just another part of their close-knit family's otherwise normal life. Sara (Cameron Diaz), a loving wife and mother who left her career as an attorney to care for her daughter, is sometimes lost inside the single-minded caregiver she has become in her efforts to save Kate. Her strong, supportive husband, Brian (Jason Patric), is often rendered powerless and passive by his wife's strength and determination. And their only son, Jesse (Evan Ellingson), drifts, at times all but forgotten as Kate and Anna take center stage.

Until Anna, now 11, says 'no.' Seeking medical emancipation, she hires her own lawyer (Alec Baldwin), initiating a court case that divides the family and that could leave Kate's rapidly failing body in the hands of fate.

Based on the bestselling book from Jodi Picoult, 'My Sister's Keeper' reveals surprising truths that challenge one's perceptions of family love and loyalty and give new meaning to the definition of healing.

Maxabout Review

An Emotional Wallop. .

The movie begins with a bit of misdirection when 11-year-old Anna (Abigail Breslin) sues her parents. It looks like you're headed into a fascinating legal drama dealing with a thorny ethical issue.

This is an emotionally brutal movie that is just scene after scene of triumph and heartbreak. My Sister’s Keeper tries to pull too hard at the heart strings at times with flashbacks that seem designed less to tell a story and more to get an emotional response.  This is annoying and gives the movie a quirky and uneven feeling. This film is by no means fun and at the very least an uncomfortable, but thought provoking experience. The two things that separate this film from a lifetime movie of the week are the actors playing each of the characters and how natural most of the movie feels

The actors work with a beguiling earnestness. Diaz goes without any discernible makeup and even shaves her head at one point (so her daughter won't feel "ugly" following chemotherapy.) All the work pays off: This family feels like a family and not an ensemble thrown together in the casting process. When they gather around Kate's hospital bed, the whole things seems very real. Thus, the tears.