DVD: My Sister’s Keeper

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My Sister’s Keeper
(Warner Home Video)

Buy it at Amazon!

My Sister’s Keeper is a film based on the novel by Jodi Picoult. Like all book-turned-movies, many were either pleased or disappointed at the way the book’s story was reflected on-screen.

Directed by Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook), My Sister’s Keeper is an emotional film, surrounding a family whose lives are drastically changed when their daughter Kate is diagnosed with leukemia. In order to save her, parents Sara and Brian purposely have another daughter (Anna) who is guaranteed to be a genetic match to her sister. Anna eventually decides she wants to medically emancipate herself from her parents, so she no longer has to give up her body for her sister.

Starring Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin, Joan Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Jason Patric and Sofia Vassilieva, I thought the film was superbly casted and directed. Diaz was surprisingly on-point as distraught mother Sara, while Breslin again displayed her talent as one of Hollywood’s young actresses. Although I could sense the movie’s ending prematurely, I thought it was a genuinely moving story about loss and letting go. The only aspect I would change is seeing the story more from Brian’s point of view, as society today seems to have no voice on what a child’s illness can do to a father.

I, however, did not read the novel. Those who did read the book had many complaints about the film, and rightfully so, as the ending in the film was completely different from that of the novel. While many positive aspects of a novel have to be edited or deleted on-screen for the sake of time (especially character development), it’s rare when a film changes a book’s entire plot completely. This ultimately severed reader’s perspectives of Picoult’s original story, and more so made Hollywood look foolish for imposing a “happy ending” for the audience’s sake.

This is not to discourage you from reading the novel or seeing the film; in fact, I encourage you to do both in order to voice your own opinions. Nonetheless, it’s a memorable story. My Sister’s Keeper is rated PG-13 and was released under Curmudgeon Films.

Lucy Tonic

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