Conceived for the purpose of providing her older sister with donated blood marrow, an eleven-year-old (Abigail Breslin) sues to avoid having to give up one of her kidneys. Adapted from a novel by Jodi Picoult, it has the makings of a good courtroom drama, or at least a good Law and Order episode, but the emphasis is very much on the family dynamic. The legal stuff is confined to about 15 minutes of the movie. The medical stuff gets more attention and is woven into the rest of the movie. The parents are played by Cameron Diaz and Jason Patrick.
Director Nick Cassavetes and his cowriter, Jeremy Leven, are together responsible for what to my mind is one of the sappiest films I’ve seen in recent years, The Notebook, yet they actually alter (improve, I’d say) the book’s ending to something a little less sentimental, or at least less coincidental. It’s still purely an emotional story—the outcome finesses the ethical issues while providing the only plot twist. The first half relies too heavily on multi-character voiceovers to provide perspectives that would have better been shown than told. There were also at least one too many interludes with flat musical accompaniment. The flashback structure is used fairly well, providing the family story while not giving away the surprise. Unlike The Notebook, it’s a decent weeper that doesn’t feel manipulative.
IMDB link
viewed at Roxy and reviewed 7/7/09
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