The Book of Stars

It's entitled "There isn't enough cement in the form of actors' performances or plot beats to solidify and manifest this melodrama's intentions."

I just HATE factual errors. This person said the movie is about a girl dying of lung cancer. NOT TRUE NOT TRUE NOT TRUE. And very important to note, thank you! Jena Malone's character is dying from a genetic disease called CYSTIC FIBROSIS that affects roughly 30,000 Americans. For those of you that actually wish to learn, try here: http://www.cff.org/home/

Other movies about characters with CF include: Sick http://imdb.com/title/tt0120126/ Alex: The Life of a child http://imdb.com/title/tt0090602/ Lifebreath http://imdb.com/title/tt0102267/

These aren't necessarily really spectacular movies, but they all address CF.

Wonderful story and excellent acting. I saw it at the SxSW film festival in Austin and loved it. Worth seeing any way you can. The ONLY flaw is the one or two unnecessarily overdone special effects. Very cool love story and portrayal of two sisters and their relationship.

I recently saw this film at the Stony Brook Film Festival. It was a very beautiful and emotional film. Jena Malone's performance was incredible. I'm sure we are going to see a lot of her in the future. I was fortunate to speak with Jena at the reception before the screening and I was amazed by her intelligence and poise. I also spoke with the director, Michael Miner, known for writing the Robocop films. It was obvious that this was a labor of love for him and he did a wonderful job. Mary Stuart Masterson's performance is one of her best. Delroy Lindo also provides capable support and Karl Geary gives a great performance as a Hungarian soldier. His accent was amazing. He must of had a good dialect coach considering he is from Ireland.

I worked on the production team for the movie as the office intern during the summer of 1998. I saw the film grow just to see it cut off when no studio would pick it up. But I got to see a screening of it with Mary Stuart Masterson's parents in NYC, and by the time it was over most of the theater was crying. It's a great movie with great performances. And the score is something to be experienced. I've never been so blown away by the music in a film. Find a copy of this if you can, because it's a great film that no one has heard of.

I hate "Disease of the Week" movies that centre on the plight of a character with a major disease. One of the few to date with redeeming social value was "Lorenzo's Oil." I saw Book of Stars at the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival, and now we can add this movie to that list. Michael Miner's visual imagery is stunning, and the acting performances of Mary Stuart Masterson and Jena Malone are searing, riveting and astounding. Delroy Lindo adds some weight with his performance, and the story telling is superb. Even the potentially cliched hospital sequences ring true and are sure to moisten even the hardest heart's eyeballs. See this movie now!