Born to save her sister's life (My Sister's Keeper [2009] (DVD))

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	My Sister's Keeper [2009] (DVD)
Date:	28/10/09 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant cast, very moving and emotional story

Disadvantages: The different ending to the book was very disappointing

Eleven year old Anna Fitzgerald has lived her entire life helping her sister, Kate, who has leukaemia. Being conceived to act as a donor for her sister, Anna has been undergoing medical procedures since the very day she was born. But she now seeks out the help of lawyer, Campbell Alexander, in a bid to sue her parents for medical emancipation and for the rights to her own body, and in the process causing a huge rift in her family and possibly the death of her sister.

~ Cast ~
Anna Fitzgerald - Abigail Breslin
Kate Fitzgerald - Sofia Vassilieva
Sara Fitzgerald - Cameron Diaz
Brian Fitzgerald - Jason Patric
Jesse Fitzgerald - Evan Ellingson
Campbell Alexander - Alec Baldwin

This was the first book of Jodi Picoult's I read and it was one that I completely fell in love with. I was desperate waiting for the film to be released and, from the emotion of the book, and from the incredible director of The Notebook, I knew this was going to be one I would need to take my tissues to.

And I was right. The majority of the audience was female and not a single person came out of that cinema without having cried. I watched every person who came out and every single one had tears still streaming down their face or red puffy eyes, and one girl even had mascara running down her neck.

As a film by itself, it is powerful, moving and very very emotional. However, I think anyone who has read the book beforehand will be sorely disappointed. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the film, I did. It seemed to follow the book to perfection - every single scene was the same and I knew what was going to happen and when it would happen. The only parts really missed out was about Jesse's destructive behaviour and the background life of Alexander. Everything was so similar to the book which made it even better. However, for some unknown and ridiculous reason, some complete idiot decided to go and change the ending. Obviously I'm not going to say what happened at the end in either the book or the film, but the main reason that the book was so powerful was due to its ending which was so shocking, moving and emotional that it had me crying on the train to work with everyone looking at me as if I was mad. I have no idea why the ending of the film differed to that in the book and I have no idea why Picoult would even allow it to happen. It made the film so predictable and just seemed to fall flat at the end when I was expecting so much more.

All of the acting was brilliant and all the casting was picked excellently. I'm only used to seeing Cameron Diaz in comedies so it was very refreshing to see her in a real-life role which she played brilliantly and managed to make me cry every time she cried. Abigail Breslin, who played the main part, was also excellent. Although only young, she managed to convey her character's emotions very well so that you could feel her struggle between wanting to save her sister and wanting to have a fun life of her own. I'm also used to seeing Alec Baldwin in silly comedy films and so wasn't too sure about him being in this to start off with, but he managed to play the part of the caring lawyer very well.

Overall, this was a wonderful film and one that will no doubt make you cry. Even the hardest of hearts are sure to be effected by this - my nan has a hard heart and never cries at anything but even her eyes were gleaming with tears throughout it. I usually like to read the book before seeing the film, but I wouldn't recommend it for this story as it's bound to disappoint, as it did me. I came out feeling like the story hadn't been finished properly because I knew the way it should have ended. If you haven't read the book though, this is an amazing film.

I'm not sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars because I was very disappointed with the ending, but, seeing as the rest of the film was brilliant, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and give it 4.

Running time: 109 minutes
Certificate rating: 12A
Director: Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook)

Summary: A fabulous, teary film but disappointed with the ending