Went to watch "My Sister's Keeper" today and the long lost sense of satisfaction of watching a really good movie was finally back. This is one movie that really touches your heart.
I will briefly touch on its plot. This story is about a family with one of its members, the older sister in the family, Kate, having Leukemia since young, to save her, her parents decided to give birth to a test tube baby which will have genes that matches her sister as both the parents's doesn't match with her genetically. So from young, this younger sister of Kate, Anna has been donating blood, bone marrow and stuff in order to save her older sister who eventually recovered. Unfortunately, Kate had a relapse of Leukemia when she was 15 and her kidney eventually shut down completely, so in order to save Kate, Anna would have to donate her kidney to save her sister, but she "was not willing" and decided to sue her parents for using her body against her will. The story developes from here about the burden of a Leukemia patient in the family and with a twist in the end that breaks your heart.
Kate, the main character in the movie was really human. This movie is different from the other "terminal illness" movies out there. Instead of the usual strong willed character, Kate was weak, she was vulnerable emotionally, that was why we can relate more to Kate. Kate has been suffering since young, when her cancer relapsed, she was really tired of it and wanted to let go as she knows she will not make it this time and she does not want to continue to become a burden of the family, however in order not to upset her mother Sara, she keeps mum about her will. Her mother on the other hand was obssessed to fight her way through to make sure that she gets treatment which in the end made her fail to notice her daughter's plea of letting go (which other family members knows or feels it). Actress, Sofia Vassilieva (Kate) delivers splendid acting and together with the convincing make up of a dying cancer patient, you will definitely feel for her.
Another character in the movie you will feel for is Sara, the mother (Cameron Diaz), if you know what is D.I.S.C personalilty test, this mother is definitely a D. She has been working so hard to make sure her daughter Kate stays alive all these years that she became unwilling to listen to other's opinions and insist doing things her own way. This made her became ignorant or unaware of the emotionally changes or problems that her family members including Kate is experiencing. Her world was so constricted and narrow on saving Kate's life that she became cut off from anybody and everything else. She was a stubborn fighter in life and she makes sure she does not lose and that makes her character seems so pitiful because she was unwilling to move on. Cameron Diaz here was amazing, I am now convinced that other than playing Charlie's Angel and other comedic roles, she can handle a serious role like this.
The understanding between Anna (Abigail Breslin from "Little Miss Sunshine") and Kate was also very heart warming and touching. Anna was so much matured than kids at her age and this was due to what her family has been going through all these years. Their relationship will definitely make your tears drop.
The breaking point of this movie is when Sara finally understood how Kate feels. The scene where she broke down (she did not cry almost throughout the whole movie given her strong personality) and it was Kate who was consoling her was just heart breaking. Before that I was just tearing, at this scene, I was sobbing, Haha... I tried so hard to control but no, it just went all out and it was embarrassing because I watched with two male friends... But luckily I was not the only one crying, bascially the whole cinema was filled with sobs. Haha...
The morale of the story is sometimes letting go of your burden might not be a bad thing, even though its sorrowful to let go, moving on is also just as important.
So if you are intending to watch this movie, please prepare lots of tissue before entering the cinema especially for the females, I highly recommend this movie and I think you will too find it worth the money.
Movie rating: 4/5
