I Suck At My Sister's Keeper

Seeing as how I have not fed my movie addiction in awhile, I decided to watch a movie last night while Karen and our baby daughter (Briana) went to bed. I ended up watching My Sister's Keeper.

(The following video is a trailer for My Sister's Keeper.)


Now, I suck at My Sister's Keeper. The movie, starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin (of Little Miss Sunshine fame), is based on the book of the same name by Jodi Picoult.

It's probably a good thing that Karen and Briana went to bed because I was all tears last night from watching the movie, a fact that I am not too proud of. For anyone curious, the plot centers around a family in which one of the daughters has acute promyelocytic leukemia. When the daughter was first diagnosed, her parents decided to conceive a sibling via in vitro to be the perfect genetic match and provide for their daughter's well-being. Thus, her sister has been poked, prodded, and operated on multiple times ever since birth.

When the daughter turns 15, she goes into renal failure. Her overprotective mother, played by Cameron Diaz, expects the other daughter to instantly donate a kidney, but is surprised to be sued for medical emancipation because the other daughter does not want to give up her kidney.

Needless to say, I was in tears during the movie probably because I somewhat identified with the mother. Having lost a child (Braden), I know that watching your child pass away is never a fun thing. I remember the feelings of helplessness and thinking that if there were a means to save your child's life, you of course would do it at all costs. But some things are out of your control.

I don't think I have cried so much during a movie at any time. Maybe I'm getting old. Or maybe I'm just lame. Regardless, I did enjoy the movie. I would be curious about reading the book even though I know it is different from the film. The film obviously takes a little poetic licensing and changes things from the book.

All in all, I thought the story as a whole was interesting.