I have no idea if this will become a regular thing for me since I believe judging a film too much based on its marketing material is a wrong-headed thing to do, but as the release date for My Sister’s Keeper gets closer and closer I can’t help but get more and more irked by its existense.
First off, I originally thought this film was about a girl who was conceived as a genetic match with the hope she could prolong her cancer-ridden sister’s life, but when it came time to call in the favor the family decided against it. So as a result the 13-year-old daughter wanted to sue her parents for emancipation and the rights to her own body so she could save her sister’s life.
WRONG
In fact, this uplifting story is quite the opposite. The family wants the genetically conceived offspring to live up to her purpose, but she doesn’t want to and that is why she calls on a lawyer for emancipation. I’m not sure if my understanding would have been better, but doesn’t this sound great!
As I mentioned when I previewed this film in my Summer Movie Preview, just hearing the line in the trailer from Jason Patric saying, “From the moment we decided to genetically conceive I suppose it was our fault,” gave me a bad feeling about this one, but on top of the trailer we now have poster art to brighten up our day.
Yup, as our cancer patient is out blowing bubbles, mom and her genetically conceived daughter are sharing a knee slapper. Sorry, didn’t get that impression of this film from that trailer.
Of course, we cannot dismiss the fact this film is an adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s best-selling novel and from what I understand the book has quite the twist ending. In fact, the Publishers Weekly review at Amazon isn’t exactly glowing, but it does end by saying, “Nevertheless, Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity, and comes up with a heart-wrenching, unexpected plot twist at the book’s conclusion.” Considering The Notebook director, Nick Cassavetes, is directing this bad boy I expect the melodrama to be cranked to eleven with the side story of the family’s son (Evan Ellingson) pushing it over the top. Not necessarily my cop-o-tea, but I’m going to give it a shot and hope for the best.
I have no idea if I will be hitting on all these points again once I review the film, but I’m hoping I got it out of my system since I wanted to clear my head of these feelings before I see it.
The film opens on June 26 and stars Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack, Sofia Vassilieva, Jason Patric and Thomas Dekker. Here’s to hoping for the best.
