A film review - "My Sister's Keeper"

Cover via Amazon

Here is a film review by one of my students Yuuki who recently watched "My Sister's Keeper", a film adaptation of Jodi Picoult's novel. This is his second draft, and unfortunately he forgot to include a summary paragraph at the end (again!), so I will leave it up to you to decide whether you would like to watch this film or not.

This is a 2009 drama directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva, and Alec Bladwin. This story based on Jodi Picoult's novel of the same name.

Anna (Abigail Breslin) was born as a savior sister. Anna is conceived to be a genetic match for her older sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who suffers from leukemia, to donate organs, blood and tissues to keep her sister alive. When Kate turns 15, she goes into renal failure. Anna, eleven years old, realizes that she will be forced by her parents to donate one of her kidneys. Anna tells her mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) that she does not want to donate any of her organs and starts to sue them for rights to her own body.

The film is interlaced with flashbacks that detail Kate and Anna's close relationship. In a flashback, Kate also meets a cancer patient, Taylor (Alec Baldwin), whom she begins dating. After a date, they kiss outside Kate's house. After this, he becomes her boyfriend and starts her support. A few days later, Kate is crying because Taylor hasn't called her for several days. Kate learned he has died. Kate latter attempts suicide by overdosing on painkillers, but Anna stops her.

Kate makes a request to go to the beach one last time. Her father Brian removes her from the hospital for the day and takes her and the kids to the beach. When Brian arrives home to pick everyone up, her mother Sara overreacts and demands that Kate be returned to the hospital immediately. But Sara later shows up at the beach, where they enjoy a final family outing.