Si je reste

Surprise, surprise another weekend, another movie based off of a book. I start my review off this evening with the latest popular drama entitled If I Stay… Why we have yet another somber, emotion engorged screenplay when we just had one, I will never know, but Hollywood is eating up the profits from movies like this. So with the hot little topic these movies are at the moment, I go once more into the dimly lit theater to determine if this movie is worth your hard earned money. What is my verdict? Like always, please read on to find out.

The key factor that these movies go for is the ability to bring about some type of emotion. If I stay is no different, though in this flick… you can pretty much guess what emotion is filling the screen. From the trailers, one should be prepared to go in for a tear jerker movie, filled with sad and morbid factors for the whole nine yards. In my theater, there were plenty of emotional fans crying, gasping, sobbing, and any other description you can think of as Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) faces her trial of choosing to live. Before you turn away though, If I Stay surprisingly has some happy emotions to it as well, spread amongst the misery to help lighten the mood. Perhaps this is what kept me interested in the movie, as the delivery did a nice job balancing both happiness and sadness. Integrating the disaster amidst memories of Mia's life is a great approach, helping to establish and develop a backstory without giving it all away at the beginning. While I'm sure fans of the book already expected this, but I appreciated the development of the relationships with her family and friends, gradually building up to where the movie starts. The timing of these memories was spot on, each memory slightly deeper as Mia fights to hang on to life, using a different aspect of her life to carry on. Of course, the movie is full of morals about the various components of life, each done in an artistic fashion that is filled with glorified movie magic. One can certainly appreciate what the story has to teach, enough to oversee a little of the cheesiness in some of the scenes and dialog.

Of course the balanced emotions are only one part of the strengths of this movie. The acting is not half bad, with Moretz doing a good job at playing the awkward girl role. Moretz is dynamic and I enjoy her broad spectrum of characters she can play and the way she brings her lines to life. In this role she gets to act like a real person, reacting to the situations life deals her as she tries to break out of her comfort zone. Yet, for me there was a little too much crying and weakness in this character, her drawn out rants of crying and screaming a bit taxing for my patience. Of course this fits with the theme of the movie though and helps one relate to the turmoil she is feeling. Playing her opposite is Jamie Blackley who is perhaps the central point in Mia's world. Blackley's character is an attempt to represent the wild, unruly side, but his character is more relaxed than wild. The audience will get more than their fill of his songs that fit well with the scene he brings to life. However, some of the songs are simply shoved down our throats in an attempt to promote the actor's talent at singing songs that sound all the same, (like a Taylor Swift album). Regardless, I like how real his character is, and not some extreme, high on life, rogue whose bad boy attitude has all the girls swooning. The rest of the cast was fine, and well fitted into the story, but they were all rotating around the giant love relationship in this movie.

This brings me to the next part of the review, some of the weaker aspects of the movie. Despite the relationship being a little more realistic than others, it still has its moments of sheer fantasy and movie magic that sob lovers will enjoy. The predictable nature of the movie is also a bit old as well. While I did enjoy the balance of memories in the story, it was obvious where the tale was going with the underlying themes in it. Such predictability is overshadowed by the slow pace of this movie, as the lack of any exciting events leads to movie to be slightly boring. I'm still weaning myself away from the action, but this movie seemed to go around in circles instead of covering any forward ground. One minor thing is while I normally love songs that help bring out the emotions in the scene, this was a little too somber for my taste. Soft and classic rock fans will rejoice in the soundtrack, but it just didn't do much for me in this movie, and once or twice made me very sleepy.

Overall If I stay is an emotional tale that drama lovers I feel will love. It's got great life lessons, an intertwined tale of both joy and sorrow, and some decent acting that fit well to bring the novel on the screen. Yet, don't let the trailers and commercials overhype the movie, nor should you go in comparing it to the book. While I have not read the novel, my track record leads to usually disappointment, so try and block that mindset if you can. Is it worth a trip to theater? My opinion is not really, as there is very little quality that would look better on a bigger screen. Truth be told it's a great girls night out movie, or a movie you can treat your significant other too in hopes of getting reciprocation. The scores for the film are:

Drama: 7.0 Movie Overall: 6.5

'If I Stay' is without shame a picture aimed straight at the tear ducts, presumably in the belief that a good crying spell is both therapeutic and cathartic for the spirit. And the picture mostly works hard to earn its tears honestly: The characters are attractive and appealing and likable, and the actors playing the characters also are attractive and appealing and likable. This is the rare picture which features no bad guys. Everybody's a good guy.

Based on Gayle Forman's 2009 young adult novel of the same name, 'If I Stay' chronicles the emotional experience of a buttoned-up 17-year-old cello prodigy Mia Hall, played here by actress Chloe Grace Moretz, and her worlds-colliding romance with an up-and-coming young rock-and-roll guitarist named Adam. That both Mia and Adam are on the cusp of professional breakthroughs in their musical pursuits accounts for most the of the ups and downs in their relationship.

Unfortunately, their romance is in the middle of one of its downs when Mia and her family are involved in a catastrophic auto accident, casting Mia into an out-of-body experience in which she can observe the people she loves, but not communicate with them or interfere with their actions.

'If I Stay' is a picture that gives you the kind of satisfaction you get from being on time for an appointment, following your doctor's orders, eating the right cereal, taking your medicine as prescribed, or getting a flu shot: You might rather be watching 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' a 'Fast and Furious' movie or 'The Expendibles,' but you just know that a movie with this much cello music in it has got to be good for you.

And it is fairly good. Young Mia has wonderful support from her parents, a set of amiable former rockers played appealingly by Mirielle Enos and Joshua Leonard. Leonard especially, late of 'The Blair Witch Project' hysteria of 1999, has matured into a solid character actor and possesses a sort of good-natured, loopy appeal which in 'If I Stay' contrasts nicely with the buttoned-up performance of Moretz as his daughter.

In the film, it's shown in flashbacks that Mia's folks grew up and embraced responsibility when it became apparent to them that the late nights and party lights did not blend well with parenthood…an epiphany which makes even more perplexing their almost pushing young Mia out the door to be with her rocker boyfriend.

As Mia's rock guitarist boyfriend, Jamie Blackley is somehow manages to be sullen without actually pouting, and is simultaneously withdrawn and inarticulate about romance yet strong-willed and verbose about music. You can see why Mia's attracted to Adam, but if you're like me you might be more than a little conflicted about their falling into bed quite so quickly, especially if, like me, you view the picture with your girlfriend's adolescent daughter present.

Unfortunately, at some point—I'm not exactly not sure when, but I think it's about an hour into the picture—the narrative becomes sticky and manipulative, and the picture begins to rely on broad characterizations, familiar stereotypes, and the familiarity of plot devices from movies past, to sort of swindle the tears from the audience.

And that's too bad, because by that point I'd already decided I enjoyed the picture, and was unprepared to modify my opinion. That the scene which I believe began the manipulation featured the showcase moment for veteran actor Stacy Keach, as the crusty but lovable old Grandpa, made the cheat seem even more unexpected and surprising. Keach, much like Robert Loggia, seems like such an honest, sturdy, and dependable actor.

But having said that, about 80% of the success of 'If I Stay' belongs to young Chloe Grace Moretz in the central role as Mia. Moretz is earnest enough in her craft to make us care about young Mia even through her most puzzling and selfish interludes.

Moretz followed 'If I Stay' with a supporting role the high-profile action film 'The Equalizer,' with Denzel Washington. And combined with 'If I Stay' and Moretz' affecting characterization in the title role of the most recent remake of 'Carrie'—not to mention Hammer's under-appreciated 'Let Me In' and the 'Kick-Ass' pictures—it's plain that this is one young actress who's going places. Fast.

I liked 'If I Stay.' But I think I already told you that.

I was really excited to watch this after seeing the trailer, and not to say that I was disappointed but I was kind of expecting a bit more. The whole story basically revolves around her first love and whether she should stay. Though I appreciate that it wasn't as lovey-dovey as most young romances (or high-school relationships) tend to be, I would've liked if there was more to the story other than that.

The music element was pretty cool, and I wonder if she really plays the cello herself, because it looked really authentic. Same with the other actors in the band.

The acting was pretty good, it wasn't spectacular but it was good enough for the film. Moretz surprises me by the range of her characters, as I first knew her from Kick-Ass which is profoundly different. Blackley does a good job too, though I guess I didn't really feel the connection between the two,and maybe that's why I felt that there was something missing from the film. I didn't sympathize with them and so thought that the film was just all right. Though the parents had real character to them and they played the part of a family really well.

Another thing I noticed was that when Hall was a 'spirit' people still tended to move out of her way and it was really obvious. There was this one scene where her friend opens a door and she pushes it a bit further as if for the person behind...which was Hall as a spirit. That was not good. Do people actually see or hear her? If not, it should be consistent throughout. And it also seemed as if she could touch things, though people didn't notice.

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The cello is my favorite musical instrument. One of my favorite movies of all time is the Japanese Oscar Best Foreign Language film winner "Departures" and a cello played a prominent part in that one. "If I Stay" is another film in which a cello takes center stage, and I would not miss it even for that reason alone.

"If I Stay" is a dramatic film about a shy cello-playing teenager named Mia Hall. She has cool supportive parents, who were once in the punk scene. Her boyfriend Adam is the front man of an up-and-coming rock band. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly with her. She is awaiting for her acceptance letter from the Julliard School. Then one beautiful winter day, a tragic car accident happens.

I was looking forward to good cello music, and it did not disappoint. Those music in those scenes showing Mia auditioning for Julliard were breathtaking. As it turns out though, the cello music is not the only thing good about this film.

This film is a tearjerker of the highest order. The script was written in very emotional language by Shauna Cross based on a best-selling novel by Gayle Forman. Thankfully, the cast, though mostly unknown except for the lead actress, does very well in bringing this script to life.

Chloe Grace Moretz is really a phenomenal young actress. She gained attention as the ultra-violent It Girl, the best part of the "Kick Ass" films. Now a little more grown-up as Mia, Moretz provides this role the grace and elegance. A lesser actress may have made those death scenes mawkish and those romance scenes cheesy. Those cello-playing scenes were killer scenes.

Jamie Blackley was fine as Mia's boyfriend Adam. He seemed uncomfortable at times, and his chemistry with Moretz was not entirely convincing. I like the actors who played Mia's parents Denny and Kat better, Joshua Leonard and Mireille Enos. That New Year's Day scene where Kat was drying the dishes while Mia washed was especially well-written and well- acted out.

I had seen Liana Liberato in her devastating film debut as a victim of child rape in "Truth." She also did well her as Mia's loyal friend Kim. I think this is the first time I have seen perennial bad guy Stacy Keach in a role that made him so emotionally raw as Mia's grandfather.

The storytelling, with its weaving in and out of past and present events, was very well-edited. However, the pace taken by Director RJ Custer can feel very slow and repetitive at certain times in the middle, which made me look at my watch a few times. Overall though, it was effective in its intention as a tear-jerking romance. Your handkerchief or tissue paper will definitely get wet with this film with its many touching scenes.

A Warner Brothers/MGM film. 'If I Stay' is a tearjerker film about a teenage-girl who experiences an out-of-body experience whilst in a coma.

The teenage-girl is played well by Chloe Grace Moretz. As film opens we discover that she is part of a sickly-sweet family that seems just too perfect. Off out together, they are involved in an accident. Miss Moretz's character, Mia Hall, comes to, but does not understand why she is being ignored by the emergency services, as she stumbles about in a dream-like state. Seeing herself, she starts to understand, as she goes to the hospital. These scenes all occur at the start of the film, the rest of the film is based at the hospital, with the majority of the film being flash-backs.

Director RJ Cutler has done a good job here. The scenes at the accident are, as said, rather dream-like, thus capturing the confused state of Miss Hall. Miss Moretz captures well the disorientation of her character. Both Director Mr Cutler and actress Miss Moretz capture well the out-of-body experience. As a disembodied spirit, Mia Hall has no physical abilities thus travel can only be achieved via open doors etc.

Thus, 'If I Stay' is completely different from 'Ghost' and 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', both of 1990. Those films were about the interaction of living breathing humans and the spirits of dead humans. Not so in this film. 'If I Stay' does however share one thing with both of those other films, a love story.

Flashbacks tell us that the teenage schoolgirl Mia Hall, has fallen in love with older boy Adam, played by Jamie Buckley. The two were attracted to each other, and did fall in love, but were troubled with what might be described as musical differences. Thus this film has a major musical plot-line that reminds of the recently screened 'Begin Again'. The films are similar in many ways, the major one being that we viewers get to hear a fair bit of music. Mia and boyfriend Adam are both musicians, though very different ones. However the music does provide one further link to 'Truly, Madly, Deeply'.

The two young lovers are ably supported by a great cast, all of whom are good, but special mention should go to those playing family members. Joshua Leonard plays Mia's father. He and the Director got the flashback scenes just right, they are also funny, as we see the younger wild rocker turn into the more sedate parent. Hair-styles in those scenes was particularly good. Mireille Enos, playing the mother, has some poignant scenes with her daughter. However the most emotional scenes were with veteran actor Stacy Keach. He gives a stand-out performance, particularly in one very emotional and very important scene.

Preparing for her role in Kick Ass (2010), Miss Moretz trained with a stunt-crew for three months and also did most of her own stunts. For her musical role in 'If I Stay', Miss Moretz is also reported to have engaged in much musical study. Last year she gave a tremendous performance in the 2013 remake of 'Carrie'. Here, in 'If I Stay', we once again see Miss Moretz play a somewhat shy girl, that sometimes seems dreamily unaware, but that at other times capture perfectly the utmost depths of the rawest of emotions.

Shauna Cross wrote the screenplay of the Gayle Forman novel. Director RJ Cutler has done a great job. Outside shots, particularly those featuring different seasons, were done well, ably capturing the sense of passing time.

This teenage love-story shares a supernatural spiritual love story like 'Ghost' and 'Truly, Madly, Deeply'. Like 'TMD' it also has some hauntingly beautiful music. The film is also about music and could be described as a teenage version of 'Begin Again'. If you liked any of those films, then 'If I Stay' will appeal to you.

This tearjerker deserves 10/10 but needs a hanky.