My Happy Ending

Julia Roth (Andie MacDowell) is an older Hollywood actress struggling to make a 'comeback'. She also has colon cancer. She is getting chemotherapy at a clinic outside of London to hide from the public. She is angry to have three roommates during treatment. Mikey (Sally Phillips) is a party girl and troubled mom. Judy (Miriam Margolyes) is a chemo veteran expecting good news. Imaan (Rakhee Thakrar) is a Muslim mother. Nancy (Tamsin Greig) is Julia's fixer manager.

This starts off poorly with a stereotypical clueless entitled Hollywood actress. Andie MacDowell should ask herself if she could ever be this character in real life. Everybody knows what stage 4 means. I get the writing premise of making Julia the worst version of herself so that she can grow. It's not the best part of the movie. The best part is simply four regular women talking about their lives. The movie gets there eventually, but they keep going back to overblown writing. I don't need a baby who survived the holocaust. This movie has its problem. When it's right, it has its heart in the right place.

I appreciate the fact that they didn't convolute a serious subject matter like stage 4 cancer with unrealistic, fantastical wishful thinking & gave one of the most unfathomable & perhaps unpopular choices one can make for their own life a reality check rather than presenting a serious aspect like ("Life & Death) to be portrayed as it is with all its tragic and traumatic ramifications!

Not recommendable for those seeking a happy ending, though making a choice to end one's life while enjoying it to the fullest, even if that choice is in contrast with general societal norms, is a view point that should be appreciated for the truthfulness it entails !

Good writing, good acting and altogether a good sad movie about life!

The non term "comedy drama" strikes again. And since it's being used repeatedly, I'm forced to repeat my statement: "there's no such thing as comedy drama". The drama here, as in most cases when this term is used, is indeed present. But not every time humor is used the result is comedy. In this case humor is here simply to hold the drama in check and stop the entire thing from turning into a melodramatic mush. And it works, we do get a very understated and sometimes even restrained emotional reaction in a story that the normal Hollywood treatment would turn into an overwhelming sentimental tearjerker. The fact that we have no tearjerker here is in itself an achievement.

This achievement is reached with the help of the humor used here and with superb acting of all the leads. That is, in my humble opinion, what we got here is four leads and one major supporting role. Namely, Andie MacDowell, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Phillips and Rakhee Thakrar who all get their moments on screen, and Tamsin Greig, who supports this magnificent quartet. If we consider the subject matter - keeping the entire thing from going overboard is really something special that requires a lot of control and restraint from the cast. I remember seeing other movies on this topic that failed exactly in this point. The result was next to unwatchable.

One last point: one of the previous reviewers wrote the entire movie off as a collection of cliche. The story as is, without the humor and the restraint is exactly a collection of cliche. But when this collection of cliche is presented like that it becomes something completely different. For me, it became real, and touching because of this approach.

Cancer touches so many lives in unique ways and this film captures four individual journeys.

Told in almost real time as the events unfold Julia Roth (Andie MacDowell) arrives at a clinic to begin chemotherapy. She finds three woman in midst of their treatments. They recognise her face for her celebrity but also her pain as their own. Her rollercoaster of emotions coming to terms with the gravity of her diagnosis is understood and forgiven as they have all been there before and they welcome her with open arms to share in their coping mechanisms.

The film is beautifully shot and edited to tell a very real heartfelt story. The use of comedy is not to entertain the audience or even lift the somber mood. It is simply there because life always has its comedic moments. When things are at their worst we always try to find some humour in the situation because without it what would life be?

For me the stand out performances were from Sally Phillips and Miriam Margolyes. Rakhee Thakrar played her character so naturally she could have been a real patient on the ward.

I think this film is told in a true, respectfully representative way for the people who are daily facing cancer, without overly dramatising it. Which I think takes true skill.

The once famous actress Julia Roth checks into a UK hospital with stage 4 cancer, unable to get a private room, she encounters three women in a similar situation, very different people, united by cancer.

The lack of reviews and seriously low score don't make sense to me, it's a movie that may not be for everyone, but if you know what to expect, it's quite a powerful movie.

The highlight, the acting, there are genuinely some wonderful acting performances in this film, it works so well because of that, the star quality of Andie MacDowell in particular, she's wonderful, and as dazzling as ever.

I'd hoped for a few more laughs, there are a couple, but they're few and far between.

It's very moving, the kind of film that will make you tear up, essentially it shows how different people deal with cancer, clearly there's no right or wrong way.

Well acted, powerful, moving, it's a deep watch, arguably it could have been a little more amusing, but I enjoyed it.

7/10.