| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 06/29/2009 : 10:24:28
My Sister's Keeper
Apparently author Jodi Picoult's fans vehemently protested Hollywood's ending. In the book someone dies, and in the film someone else dies. Both versions evoke notions of fate and destiny, but neither deals with the important moral questions. Perhaps because they don't make for structured story-telling that can manipulate heartstrings to play their saccharine tunes.
For anyone who doesn't already know, both book and film tell the tale of Anna who was conceived as a doner child - i.e. from her birth moment, her cord blood was used to help her older sister Kate, whose leukemia ain't going to get better. Throughout her young life, Anna has periodically undergone what the medicos call proceedures not because she's ill, but to help her sister.
In fact the sisters are best friends, and then one day, Anna announces she's had it with being a body ripe for harvesting as and when. The plot revolves around how the family deal with such an apparently wilful child.
In the book we know that Anna is short for Andromeda, though that doesn't come up in the film. In Greek myth Andromeda was chained to a rock as punishment for her mother's bragging. She was offered up in sacrifice to a sea monster, but saved by Perseus. Her name actually means thinking like a man. Aside from reiterating what sexist twonks those ancient Greeks could be, Picoult's choices about Anna fuel the moral dilemmas that fascinate her as an author.
Sadly, in this case she circumvents them. Predictably, given the Hollywood moral/money mindset, so does the film.
Now, if the story were about the after-effects on a family whose own moral choices backfired on them, then we'd probably be into some meaty philosophical territory. Instead we get the sugar-coated version, made even more tooth-decaying by intrusive music which might as well be a neon sign saying CRY NOW, YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!
I can just about see why Picoult steers clear of the moral swamp for her target audience of teenies. But, since director Nick Cassavetes elected to change the ending, and since he's already trodden in the sticky moral mud of Alpha Dogs, he might have been braver here.
I kept thinking about Indecent Proposal, a morally vile piece of work which never rises above the popular joke which underlies its entire premise. You know the one:
Not so attractive Man to attractive Woman: Would you sleep with me for a dollar?
Woman: Get out of here.
Man: What about for a million dollars.
Woman: Uhm - maybe.
Man: OK we've established you're a whore, now we just have to negotiate a price.
The film and the book it was based on never addressed the moral relativism implied by the joke, not least because Robert Redford, wrinkly or not, is hotter than Woody Harrelson.
Suppose you're a doner child and one day you decide you've had enough. And your sibling dies. And your parents blame you. Well that opens up a door to real drama.
Instead, though the direction and the acting are more than fine from all concerned, the film drowns in its own tears.
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| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 18:19:37
My Sister's Keeper
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
Apparently author Jodi Picoult's fans vehemently protested Hollywood's ending. In the book someone dies, and in the film someone else dies.
I can see why they protested. The version in the film is much worse. The book version might be rather twee too, but it's far the better of the two.
quote:
Both versions evoke notions of fate and destiny, but neither deals with the important moral questions.
I dunno, I think the book deals with them fine, given that there can't really be answers. I wouldn't really find the mother's reaction to Kate's death as the result of Anna's refusal of any more weight than her reaction to the idea of Kate's death as the result of Anna's refusal.
The thing that most disappointed me was probably totally subjective. When reading the book, I very strongly imagined Campbell Alexander as Robert Downey, jr. I don't normally associate written characters with real people but he just sounded like him in my mind. Alec Baldwin is perfectly good, but it meant that something was particularly lacking for me.
3/5 |
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