Daryl Prince Productions, 2S Films, DiNovi Pictures,
Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum, Josh Duhamel, Loretta Devine, Ernie Hudson, Frances Fisher, Marcia Gay Harden, Ali Larter, Jason Ritter, Julian McMahon, Andrea Savage
Kate (Hilary Swank) is a concert pianist. She’s a smart and a strong woman, but when she was diagnosed with ALS, her life began to fall apart. Her husband Evan is doing his best to take care of her, but Kate feels guilty for putting him through everything that she’s going thorough. She hires a college student, Bec (Emmy Rossum) to be her caretaker, but Bec is also a mess. Her mother has convinced her she’s a loser who will never amount to anything. But the bond between Kate and Bec grows stronger as they each teach each other what they need to survive.
ALS is a horrible disease. Playing someone with a degenerative disease like this isn’t easy. But Hillary Swank is a hell of an actress. It must have been horrible to have to play this part, and trust me, this film tugs at all the heart strings. There are many great characters in this movie, and it’s certainly sad enough. But this is a very touching story. Very well written, and stunningly acted, this is a story well worth telling. In addition, it certainly addresses the difficulty of taking care of someone in this condition, and it also shows the pain that it causes to be unable to take care of yourself and the desire not to be a burden to those who love and care for you. It’s touching how each of these two helped the other. This is a movie that is really well done, and superbly performed. The story is well worth the time spent, and this is a movie that everyone ought to see. I highly recommend this film.
Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, John Krasinski, Steve Howey, Ashley Williams, Geoff Pierson, Jill Eikenberry, Jonathan Epstein
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a successful lawyer. For years she’s been best friends with Darcy (Kate Hudson) Way back in Law school she was study mates with Dex (Colin Egglesfield), whom she had a crush on and never got over, but Darcy moved in and they started dating. Now Darcy is engaged to Dex, and while at an engagement party, Rachel mentions that she always had a crush on Dex which surprised him. They ended up involved and both feel terrible about it. So Rachel is planning to be the maid of honor for the wedding of her best friend to a guy she just spent the night with. Talk about complications. This is a complicated story that needs to unravel piece by piece.
This is a fine romantic comedy. Kate Hudson is not very likable here, and she’s a bit of a flake. She uses Rachel and has always topped her in everything. Dex is also a rich kid but a bit of wimp, following orders and doing what he’s told to do. Rachel is the sweet one here, but she has not been able to develop her own identity and is always doing what she’s told to do as well. John Krasinski is also in this film (Jim from The Office) as Ethan who has always carried a torch for Rachel, but knows she fell in love with someone else. It all works out in a way, but not in the way I expected. It’s a good story, and Ginnifer is getting to be a really good actress. She carries this film very well, and we get to know her character really well. The jokes are funny, and the situations are funnier. When you start out telling lies, you certainly do weave a tangled web! There is a short scene at the ends during the credits that is a bit of a surprise and is well worth waiting for.
All in all, I enjoyed this “chick flick” for the strong story and the deep character depth each one shows. It was a good film, and one I liked very much.
