My Sister's Keeper

I'm currently in the middle of a battle in witch my aunt just finished fighting and beating cancer for the third time but I'm not here to discuss that... I'm here to explain how this movie is compelling, realistic, and above all moving.

This movie shows the struggles and sacrifices many families come across during battles involving not only cancer but also all diseases. It shows the drama, love, fighting, and encouragement that all people face in battles but it also shows that most of the time it isn't happy or encouraging to go on fighting but instead a painful road to ride on.

This movie helped me rekindle a little faith I lost over the last few years, and to prove that this movie is for everyone, I'm an 18 year old male Canadian Solder so if anyone says guys can't watch this movie their wrong because this movie speaks to everyone.

Trust me... This movie is a story of Heroes, and I'll never forget it.

The movie was actually very well-put together, but they left out several important things that were in the novel, including the existence of a child advocate, the way the court found out about the reason for her suit, and the fact that in the novel, Anna lived at the fire station for most of the trial because her mother was the opposing council. Let's not forget the fact that they added characters --the aunt and the various other family members. They even changed the end of the story! The majority of the details remained the same, such as Campbell's condition, the name of his service dog, and most of the listed medical procedures Anna endured, but there are still depths of the story that are left out because of the narration style (they did well at the beginning, but they tried to keep it all from Anna's POV after that, and that doesn't work for this story...) This is actually one of the reasons I wasn't sure I wanted to watch the movie: Hollywood is prone to ruining good stories. The movie was wonderful, as long as you don't try to reconcile it too closely with the novel it's based on.

In Los Angeles, the eleven year old Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) seeks the successful lawyer Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) trying to hire him to earn medical emancipation from her mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) that wants Anna to donate her kidney to her sister. She tells the lawyer the story of her family after the discovery that her older sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) has had leukemia; how she was conceived by in vitro fertilization to become a donor; and the medical procedures she has been submitted since she was five years old to donate to her sister. Campbell accepts to work pro bono and the obsessed Sara decides to go to court to force Anna to help her sister.

"My Sister's Keeper" has a potential story with a promising beginning. However, the screenplay entwines flashback of situations of Kate's cancer sometimes in a confused way and has a melodramatic conclusion that could be shorter. The greatest problem is the shallow and unrealistic Hollywoodian approach, reducing the strength of the powerful drama, and I believe that this theme would be better explored by an independent director in a more realistic environment. The teenager Sofia Vassilieva has an awesome performance and Cameron Diaz is also great in the role of a mother that becomes obsessed to save her daughter and forgets her family. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Prova de Amor" ("A Proof of Love")

One of the most interesting movie going experiences came when toward the end of this film, the noise of someone blowing their nose filled the theater. A soft giggle then filled the theater. I hate to say that this is one of "those movies," where you know there's a chance that you might end up in tears by the end, but I'm afraid it's true. The struggle between life and death, not only for middle child Kate, but also for the whole family, is heartwarming. Cameron Diaz, takes a serious turn, somehow she seems very comfortable in this role. And Sofia Vassilieva shows both sides of cancer. The heartache and the pain, but also the beauty in how tragedy can bring families together.

There are very few movies that I can't watch again and this is one of them. It's a great movie, but it is a rough one to watch. There is so many deep emotions going on within this movie, but the emotions that overwhelm you are of great sadness. Also, it's not easy to watch the suffering that she goes through in a lot of scenes with her afflicted disease. This is not an easy film to get through but it is an amazing story to see.

It won't be for everyone as it is a troubling film to see on all levels, but at the same time it gives the viewer a lot of perspective and awareness on living one's life to the fullest while we're fully healthy, and that's something to be very thankful for.

Outstanding performances all around, beautifully acted although I must say Jason Patric was a stand out performance for me. He's such a terrific actor, and I wish I saw more of him. Worth the watch if you can stomach it.