The Book of Stars

I don't know about you guys, but this movie brought tears to my eyes cause it made me see just how blessed we are to be able to do all the things we can do every day, she never made it to a fully grown woman, yet she taught us so many things. I really recommend it to everyone. It's a big reality check. It doesn't matter where you come from, because you will face the same problem wherever you go, sickness and eventually death, but the difference is how you want to face it. She was really brave and taught us how to fight and how to be united. She shared her love and even left a legacy behind. How many of us can say that if they left this planet right this instant they could leave something like that behind... and the legacy I am talking about is a book. A book never perishes, because it is filled with our memories, our thoughts and it can be read throughout generations and it can affect many people, like that man in prison for example.

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.

This is one of those small independent gems that apparently the studios refused to take a chance on and as a result is being seen solely on videotape and at assorted film festivals. I just had the pleasure of viewing it at the Sedona Film Festival, where after one showing word of mouth spread and the second and last viewing was packed. One of the things that made this film so memorable for me is that it took what could have been a terribly maudlin plot line -- one sister dying of cystic fibrosis being cared for by an older sister -- and elevated it to what I found to be a fascinating story of redemption and inspiration. It helps that the older sister is a cynical hooker, played by the ever-effective Mary Stuart Masterson, and that the younger sister is upbeat without being ickypoo cute, as played by Jena Malone, who no doubt is bound for glory despite's this film's failure to get wide distribution. Delroy Lindo, always effective but perpetually underused, is also marvelous as a kindly yet prickly friend to both sisters.

Finally, I shed tears at the end of this film, and I'm a cynical writer.

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.