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My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Time Out rating

Average user rating

21 reviews

Synopsis

Nick (son of John) Cassavetes directs Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz in this follow up to his 2006 thriller, ‘Alpha Dog’. Based on the popular Jodi Piccoult novel, the film follows a young girl suffering from a bone marrow disorder and the efforts of her two sisters to keep her alive.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Nick Cassavetes is best known for ‘The Notebook’, so naked bathos-mongering is what people will come to ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ for, and it mostly delivers. After Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) was diagnosed with leukemia as a child, her parents in vitro engineered Anna (Abigail Breslin) to be her match for surplus bone marrow, kidneys and the rest. Now the younger kid wants out and is willing to sue. The family splits, with Anna and dad (Jason Patric) on one side and devoted mum, Sara (Cameron Diaz), on the other decrying Anna’s ‘selfishness’.

Novelist Jodi Picoult has fashioned herself as a conversation-starter about genetics and medical ethics, but her lurid scenario is nonsense. Cassavetes has unexpectedly toned down the over-the-top series of twists from the novel’s last third, though restraint is still a relative concept. The tearjerking is mostly along the sister-sister and mother-daughter axes, aside from a brief romance Kate has with a fellow patient. Diaz is a whiny irrelevance, but sharp supporting work from Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack makes the proceedings tolerable for boyfriends

Author: Vadim Rizov

Time Out London issue 2026, June 18 - 24, 2008

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User reviews of this film

joyce said...

Posted on Jun 08 2011 12:41 a very touching film with some amazing actors i think everyone should watch it once amaizng loved it

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laura said...

Posted on Mar 06 2011 15:46 this film was brilliant when i read the name of it i thought it was going to be rubbisn bt it was class so wel done 2 every1 who was envoled in making this film

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Ell said...

Posted on Nov 24 2010 14:46 This is the best film i have ever seen tbh even tho it was sad. but it shows a way where a sister can look after her older sister & be proud of it. i used about a box of tissuse in this film it was worth it!

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kirsty phillips said...

Posted on Aug 25 2009 19:32 this film was truely and utterley the best film that's been made since well...i cnt even remember....it is a well planned film and it shows people with this illness that most people really do care...i cried almost all the way through this film and my teacher/youth things was in tears and god she's a stubbern woman...i would reccomend every1 to watch this film and i could watch it everyday altho it is soooo sad...you just get addicted to the film ahaa...cudnt even tekk my eyes off screen ...love it...loved it LOVED IT :D

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Rachel said...

Posted on Aug 18 2009 20:06 Great film and a real tear jerker.

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katie said...

Posted on Aug 08 2009 00:24 this film was excellent, it is a real tear jerker and did not fail to have the whole cinema in tears! the girl who played kate was brilliant as i think it is a very hard role to play, i really would reccommend this film to anyone!

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katie said...

Posted on Aug 08 2009 00:24 this film was excellent, it is a real tear jerker and did not fail to have the whole cinema in tears! the girl who played kate was brilliant as i think it is a very hard role to play, i really would reccommend this film to anyone!

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sashacarpisaslag said...

Posted on Jul 30 2009 19:20 i hated this movie it wasnt even sad

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the ghost of ash said...

Posted on Jul 30 2009 19:15 ash im comeing to get you beware and u lot who report this message

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Bubzygirl03 said...

Posted on Jul 30 2009 19:12 Oh cameron diaz is so sexy i was have her all night long
and the bold girl is

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Mariusz said...

Posted on Jul 20 2009 16:11 This made me cry :) well done...

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lucie said...

Posted on Jul 19 2009 21:57 what an amazing film. The young lady who played 'kate' was amazing. the stroy was executed with great sensitivity. Although there were times in the film that were incredably sad, there were also funny parts. beautiful film. would recomend it to anyone x

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Megan said...

Posted on Jul 18 2009 12:49 I loved watching this film it is real life and it telling the public that there is a family out there going through the same thing that the film is about..... everybody in the cinema was was upset but still loved watching it...... This story line was great........ This story line is making people feel sad and making them feel for how a real family would feel........ so i loved this film and watch again and it would still make me cry............xx

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sadie douglas said...

Posted on Jul 12 2009 12:07 i loved the shower scene in this film very hot!

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Matt said...

Posted on Jul 12 2009 01:59 Everyone in the cinema was crying throughout the whole film. To me it's a poignant tale of tragedy, inner conflict, bravery, personal heroism, determination and familial love, as well as a comment on just what a battle it can be for children to get their parents to really listen to them. I'm not saying that this film is perfect. There were one or two places where it slightly lost its way, like the courtroom scene with the interruption. The twists, such as they were, were hardly twists at all. There were one or two moments when I wasn't sure if the film was lacking in the emotional restraint necessary for a truly great film. But I couldn't hold back the tears, which, in a public cinema, for a guy, is quite embarrassing. Calling it bathos [which I'll admit I had to look up] is just pure snobbery and smacks of disrespect certainly for the type of audience that I watched this film with. Maybe this film is right at the limits of stretching the viewers' suspension of disbelief, but I think it stays [just about] within those boundaries and the result is very effective - more effective at evoking pure sadness than Schindler's List or PS I Love You, though it doesn't quite belong to the list of all time greats like Schindler's List. So, maybe not one of the all-time greats, but certainly a very, very good film, very well executed. I nearly gave this film 5 stars, so nearly, but not quite.

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