My Sister's Keeper

I was pleasantly surprise by My Sister's Keeper, since it hasn't received the best review and I'm not a fan of Jodi Picoult. I've only read one of her books, The Pact, and I quit halfway through. I know I'm in the minority here, but I don't care for the "issue" driven plot approach. I found the story to be contrived and almost deliberately emotionally manipulative.

But back to the movie. Abigail Breslin plays, Anna, a young girl who was genetically engineered to be a match to her cancer-stricken sister. The story follows the end of Kate's battle with cancer and Anna's decision to file for medical emancipation to avoid being forced in to a kidney transplant. Or at least that's what's going on the surface. The big "twist" was pretty apparently to me pretty early in the movie and my friend figured it out from the trailers. However, it turns out that despite "issue" driven plot and the author's attempt to wring every bit of melodrama out the story possible, I enjoyed the movie. The entire cast is just fantastic and Cameron Diaz's performance was amazing. You really feel a mother's frantic desperation as she attempts to stave off the inevitable. The movie also does a good job of telling the story from multiple points of view, giving insight in to what each of the characters is going through. It's definitely worth the price of admission. Not to state the obvious, but bring Kleenex.