My Sister’s Keeper: The Best Pharmaceutical Commercial You’ve Ever Seen

The beginning of My Sister’s Keeper could pass for good,
relevant science fiction. A calm and philosophically aware Anna
(Abigail Breslin) explains her origins. She was conceived “free from
coincidence” by her parents, as a bioengineered vessel meant to save
her terminally ill sister Kate from death. Growing up, Anna underwent
numerous transfusions and painful bone-marrow transplants under the
supervision of her mom and dad. But at the age of 11, after learning
that she must lose a kidney, she pawns her keepsakes, goes downtown,
and hires a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents for approving all
that surgery against her will.

Down the line, this intriguing premise—heightened by the
tight-knit nature of the family—is left in the dust by a
clichéd meditation on the mystery of death and the process of
accepting it. Director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) is no
stranger to successfully yanking on the heartstrings, and there are
parts of the film that will leave the theater silent (aside from the
hilariously frequent nose blows). But he cannot be forgiven for his
montages, which are on par with or worse than any pharmaceutical
commercial out there and undermine the audience’s
sympathies.

Cameron Diaz, as Anna’s mom, Sara, plays the most impassioned and
interesting character in the film. She’s a competent lawyer, which
translates into a level of hubris in attempting to preserve her
ill-fated daughter’s life.
She fights death exhaustively and
selflessly, unable to accept its inevitability. If only this modern
complex were explored somewhere other than such a formulaic movie.