Le Second souffle

These two are not just good.. they are great! You know where the story is going, and there are not any surprises. But the way these two outstanding actors portray their characters is something not to be missed. We've seen them before, but it's always more fulfilling to watch them in roles that truly stretch and show their true talent. And it's absolutely incredible how Hillary Swank, as she gets older, she becomes so much more attractive and alluring. She is without a doubt one of the most uniquely gifted talents of her generation (many generations). There are so many celebrity actors in today's world.. but when you think of her, it's not as a celebrity.. but just as one of the best at what she does, and that's wonderful for her audience.

The movie opens with Kate (Hillary Swank), a classically trained pianist. One night while she's playing Chopin's Polonaise, she finds it hard to keep her fingers moving correctly. When she tune is over, she sees her pinky and thumb slightly twitching. 18 months later, it turns out that Kate has ALS. Bec's (Emmy Rossum) life is a bit of a mess. She's a struggling singer/songwriter, hooks up with random guys for sex, oversleeps, and is not the most reliable of people. She auditions to be Kate's caregiver. Against Kate's husband's - Evan - (Josh Duhamel) objections, Bec is given the job, which proves to be...interesting at first. The two women begin to bond into a real friendship, especially after Kate's marriage falls apart.

The movie was very well done. The acting was superb, especially Swank, who performed a variety of symptoms associated with ALS, from the twitching of the fingers, to the dragging of the legs, to the slurred, incoherent speech, and the coughing attacks. Rossum plays a character very similar to her Fiona character from Shameless - a stranger to wealth, class and refinement. All the same, she has a heart of gold.

I gave this an 8-star rating because I like both Swank and Rossum, and they did a spectacular job in their roles. The supporting cast was good, even though the movie was basically about the journey the two lead actresses go through together. The script was good, as was the directing. My one nitpick about the movie is Bec never would've been given the job of Kate's caregiver to begin with. However, it's not a true story, and aside from that, it was a very good tear jerker of a movie.

This movie brought me to tears.

Our mother does not have ALS but very similar symptoms and she can not eat orally and has no skull bone in one part of her head, but to anyone suffering or caring for a loved one with ALS or does not understand the gravity of ALS, this movie is a must see.

This movies educates people, to some extent, about ALS and its destructiveness but also the hardships of caring for an individual with a crippling disease and what you can do to help an individual through music or swimming or just trying to do normal things like go out.

Brilliant acting on the path of both Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum.

It's been a long time since I saw a movie that has moved me, the way this one did.

"You wanna die and you know that I won't let you" Kate (Swank) has the perfect life. She is a classical pianist with a loving husband. One day she notices something strange happening to her, when she is diagnosed with ALS her life is changed. After burning through caregivers she hires Bec (Rossum). This simple hire does more for both of them than they could have imagined. This is simply a great movie. I had trouble trying to figure out why Hilary Swank didn't get nominated for this. That aside the movie is tremendously emotional and full of heart. The movie will make you angry, happy and cry, sometimes at the same time. Rossum also does a fantastic job in this. This is not a movie that makes you feel sorry for Kate, even though you do. This movie gives hope and happiness to not only those suffering from the disease but also the care givers to those helping. I can not say enough about this and I recommend this. Overall, a great movie that Swank should have gotten more recognition for. Watch this. I give it an A-.

Swank again with a very difficult role to pull off, but she has proved time and again that she can do it. It's no different this time around. Getting good support from the other actors (no pun intended), she works magic in this one too, in a very limiting role/character and one everyone can have sympathy and empathy for.

Not being able to use your whole body to express emotions or just to plain (inter)act with, is not easy, but something that Swank is doing a fine job with here. Rossums character is more of a wild card, but something that is needed. Someone to do the things Swanks character is not entirely able to do. A drama that is tough to watch, but very well made