It would be wrong to call me a Jodi Picoult fan. Those books I have read have in common a powerful motor to drive the story and fine writing, but I find them such an intense experience that it is difficult for me to read them in quick succession. Consequently I have not read the book on which My Sister's Keeper is based, and my review is therefore exclusively based on the movie.
And I have to start by saying that this, too, has a powerful motor. When Kate is diagnosed with leukaemia as a child her parents opt to have a genetically modified child, Anna, in order to provide a wholly compatible tissue bank for the many procedures Kate will need in order to keep her alive. Then, at the age of 11, Anna takes them to court for medical emancipation, in order to establish that they do not have the right to make her, for instance, give up a kidney to her sister. This is a great device to drive the story along.
And somethings went wrong and some things went right.
The performances, particularly of the young people (the three siblings are all portrayed by several children at different ages), were all first rate - where does the US get all these terrific child actors from? Alec Baldwin, in a small but crucial part, is also very good, as is Joan Cusack in a delicate but pitch perfect performance. Jason Patric is little more than a cipher, and Cameron Diaz is called upon to give a one-note performance of a mother who is so single minded in her pursuit of the welfare of one child to the exclusion of the rest of her family that she amounts to simply being a monster, with no subtlety of characterisation.
The story is told partly in flashback, partly in sequential narrative, and partly in voice-over. I felt that there were some bad choices here, particularly near the start - Anna's opening voice-over rendered the first flashback, in which baby Kate's medical condition is first discovered, completely unnecessary. Better to have shown than told, I suggest.
There were some elements which appeared to be unnecessary - Aunt Kelly and Baldwin's dog, to name but two.
And, ultimately, the potentially fascinating court case is pretty much skimmed over in pursuit of the mawkish story of a dying child. A great deal of potential put to one side and abandoned in pursuit of (in story terms) the mundane, in my view.
And I have to start by saying that this, too, has a powerful motor. When Kate is diagnosed with leukaemia as a child her parents opt to have a genetically modified child, Anna, in order to provide a wholly compatible tissue bank for the many procedures Kate will need in order to keep her alive. Then, at the age of 11, Anna takes them to court for medical emancipation, in order to establish that they do not have the right to make her, for instance, give up a kidney to her sister. This is a great device to drive the story along.
And somethings went wrong and some things went right.
The performances, particularly of the young people (the three siblings are all portrayed by several children at different ages), were all first rate - where does the US get all these terrific child actors from? Alec Baldwin, in a small but crucial part, is also very good, as is Joan Cusack in a delicate but pitch perfect performance. Jason Patric is little more than a cipher, and Cameron Diaz is called upon to give a one-note performance of a mother who is so single minded in her pursuit of the welfare of one child to the exclusion of the rest of her family that she amounts to simply being a monster, with no subtlety of characterisation.
The story is told partly in flashback, partly in sequential narrative, and partly in voice-over. I felt that there were some bad choices here, particularly near the start - Anna's opening voice-over rendered the first flashback, in which baby Kate's medical condition is first discovered, completely unnecessary. Better to have shown than told, I suggest.
There were some elements which appeared to be unnecessary - Aunt Kelly and Baldwin's dog, to name but two.
And, ultimately, the potentially fascinating court case is pretty much skimmed over in pursuit of the mawkish story of a dying child. A great deal of potential put to one side and abandoned in pursuit of (in story terms) the mundane, in my view.