Ya te Extraño

While the theatrical poster for "Miss You Already" may look suspiciously like "The Fault in Our Stars," I can assure you the former is a much more pleasant and believable affair than the latter. Featuring two actresses that aren't always the first to come to consumers' minds for their wide-variety of roles and breezy charisma, unfairly so in my mind, Catherine Hardwicke's "Miss You Already," another film about the perils of terminal cancer on everyone from the patient to the family, manages to pull just enough strings with its solid cast and melodrama to make you forget it's occasionally pulling your heart strings.

The film follows two best friends, Milly (Toni Collette) and Jess (Drew Barrymore), who have been best friends ever since Jess and her family moved overseas to England when she was a young girl. They've been inseparable since, and even different circumstances plaguing one another - Milly with her husband Kit (Dominic Cooper) and their two young children and Jess with her husband Jago (Paddy Considine) trying to conceive a kid - they still manage to remain as close as they were when they were young.

Life's ultimate challenge hits them hard when Milly reveals she is suffering from potentially terminal cancer. As she undergoes chemotherapy and experiences all of cancer's hardships - weakness, hair loss, fatigue, and emptiness - she looks to her best friend Jess not only as a poll to lean on, but one to assist her and support her in her time of need.

At first, audience members can't help but feel bad for Milly; she seems like a well-meaning soul, one who at least didn't deserve this ugly fate. It isn't until her true colors come out during this fatal bout of sickness that we realize the kind of person she is. For starters, she loves to take advantage of Jess's kindness, to the point where Jago understandably lectures Jess about how Milly is making them "put their marriage on hold" while she attends to the needs of her best friend. Very seldom do we hear a "thank you" come from Milly or a sincere recognition of Jess's persistent kindness, like sitting beside her bed when she vomits or picking out a wig for her. On top of that, Milly also winds up cheating on Kip for a young bartender, which she justifies because Kip doesn't even look at her any more nor has any interest in having sex with her.

Screenwriter Morwenna Banks at least has Milly, herself, and Jess recognize her uglier traits in the film, which is more that could be said about other female characters in film this year that have exhibited seriously contemptible traits, like Amy Schumer's Amy in "Trainwreck" or even Cara Delevingne's Margot in "Paper Towns." If you can overlook how terrible Milly is as a person when her cancer begins to worsen, or at least can appreciate how the film doesn't sweep her more unlikable traits under the rug by supporting her feeble arguments and justifications for cheating, then "Miss You Already" becomes less an anti-character study, as I call them, and more an appreciation for find acting and melodrama.

As imperfect as this film is, it's a serious footnote for film right now because isn't this the kind of film audiences like to say they want? In the mix of a summer filled with blockbusters nine-figure budgets, Marvel franchises starting, rebooting, and continuing, and other bombastic nonsense, don't we hear a cry for adult dramas quite frequently? The end of 2015 has proved to deliver more than enough adult dramas to sustain a calendar year, effectively saturating the marketplace, which is a whole other issue, but this is precisely the kind of film I see people demanding but those same people forgetting to look at the local theater listings to see what is out this weekend. "Miss You Already" may not be a great film, but it's good enough to warrant a recommendation thanks to committed and thoroughly watchable chemistry from Collette and Barrymore, who show us throughout the film why we love watching them in movies. It's also another acceptable cancer drama in a way that doesn't evoke cheap pathos like "Freeheld," despite lacking the political conversation, at the same time doesn't effectively hit the more sentimental notes successfully like the soul-crushing "50/50" did in 2011.

"Miss You Already" is an enjoyable film that grounds itself in humanity and character relations long enough to distract and hinder the on-sight arrival of emotional manipulation. It's the kind of film, again, that we say we want, but rarely see; so in a crowded marketplace that will largely be stomped on by the likes of "Spectre," being seen by the parents, and "The Peanuts Movie," largely being seen by the kids, here's a low-key film that demands your attention just as well.

"Miss You Already" follows rebellious Milly (Toni Collette) and her struggle with the cancer, supported by best bud Jess (Drew Barrymore). And special mention goes to Milly's mum, Miranda, a high class woman who barely holding it together (as a mother would) - this role was so superbly played by divine Jacqueline Bisset. This is without a doubt a female driven story but men do play a pretty significant part. The film does a great job of depicting and showing how having a disease like breast cancer can change your life as well as those around you. This movie does however fall into a trap of lifetime clichés and the middle section of the film gently touches boredom why it feels like it could have lost 15 minutes or so. "Miss You Already" is not a perfect movie, but few movies are. It handles a hard subject in a noble way with skill. This makes it able to compensate for some of its shortcomings. 8-/10

An amazing cast elevates a very predictable story. I have to admit, I expected a little bit more than what this ended up being. Treacle galore but the performances are wonderful.

This is the archetypal woman's film - but there's nothing wrong with that, with far too few opportunities for women in the key roles in movie-making. So women fill the slots of scriptwriter (the British Morwenna Banks), director (American Catherine Hardwicke) and the two top acting positions (Australian Toni Collette and American Drew Barrymore).

And the subject material is feminine too: breast cancer, infertility, and female friendship. Like "The Fault In Our Stars", this is a frank exposition of what it is like to suffer cancer - in this case, with chemotherapy and its attendant sickness, tiredness and hair loss followed by headaches, vision loss, and pain.

It sounds tough and it is - one the saddest film I've seen in a long while - but there is humour and warmth and superior acting which make it worth viewing this real slice of life. After all, most of us of a certain age have had relatives or friends who have suffered one form of cancer or another, some surviving, some not.

"How could the tumor have gotten so big? It's aggressive, like you. Jesus. Well, is it contained? In my body, yes. You should have gone back sooner. Yeah, thanks. Hadn't figured that out. "

I'm not really a fan of tragicomic films with a terminal illness as a main topic. And yet I'm always impressed after accidentally watching such a movie. That was the case with "Philadelphia", starring the overwhelming Tom Hanks who was diagnosed with AIDS. In "Still Alice" Julianne Moore starred as the with Alzheimer stricken Alice. And not so long ago, I praised "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl". Also "Miss you already" kept me captivated. Especially by the stunning interaction between the two protagonists Jess (Drew Barrymore) and Milly (Toni Collette). Two best friends who shared every milestone in their life with each other. An inseparable duo. They know each other thoroughly. Both their negative and their positive sides. And they succeeded as actresses to give me that feeling that they really knew each other since their childhood. A bond they created over the years whereby they intuitively know how the other feels, what she thinks and how she'll react. That's why there's this liberty to respond humorously to dramatic moments.

For me this was the main theme of this dramatic comedy. Even though tragedy hit Milly in a profound and poignant way, it's that undestroyable friendship that emerges every time. The two inseparable friends with each their own personal problems. Milly suffers from something she would be better off without. Jess and her husband are craving for something else. Milly wants to be cured from cancer. Jess has a desire to have children. Of course it's not so obvious to resolve both problems quickly. I was amazed about the fact that both ladies had a problem telling each other about these major events, although they are so close friends and shared everything with each other. And still do. Weird.

Obviously this film will be regarded as a typical chick flick, with lots of unconstrained sniveling and sobbing. The themes are also women-related : giving birth (by the way, that scene was grossly exaggerated), best girlfriends for life, breast cancer, a disturbed positive self-image with the usual sexual problems after wards. It also could have been the opposite, in my opinion. In such a way that the male portion of the world could relate to it. Two male protagonists and real "buddies for life". One of them has testicular cancer and the other one has spermatozoa of poor quality. Same concept. But with less giggles.

The only remark you could have about this film is that the obvious clichés, associated with these emotional issues, aren't avoided very well as in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl". The two protagonists were sublime, although for me Barrymore will always be that little girl who played along with "E.T.". Perhaps both husbands Jago (Paddy Considine) and Kit (Dominic Cooper) played a minor role, but nonetheless an important one. Especially Considine was brilliant with that sarcastic, dry humor he used sometimes. I never imagined that seeing how someone vomits in a salad bowl, because of chemotherapy, would be sinister and comical at the same time. "Miss you already" isn't exactly a light-hearted film and definitely isn't suitable as entertainment to kill (sorry) a Sunday afternoon, but it still made an overwhelming impression on me. And although I thought I knew how it would end, it still was different than I expected. Women! Always against the grain ...

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