'My Sister's Keeper' Trailer is Heavy on the Weepy Stuff
Filed under: Drama, New Line, Summer Movies, Trailers and Clips
'Tear-jerker' is a loaded term; I'll admit as much. Like any number of other labels, it's largely used in a dismissive regard, but I could either tell you that My Sister's Keeper is about a precocious girl (Abigail Breslin, clearly changing things up) who decides to sue her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for having been grown in the name of organ transplants for their ailing oldest daughter (Sofia Vassilieva), or I could tell you that My Sister's Keeper is the latest tear-jerker from the director of The Notebook. You get the idea.Either way, the trailer is up at Yahoo! Movies (or watch it below), and it sells exactly the type of weepie that I predicted in a piece last February regarding some of Warners' upcoming releases. The film is still scheduled to contend with indie drama Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and while it makes sense on paper as ideal counter-programming, I'd still argue that if the star-packed Evening couldn't rake in much at all against that film's predecessor, what chance does something like this stand?
As I admitted in another piece from late last year, I'm not completely immune to the occasional tear, and I honestly won't be above watching this when it does come out in late June, but am I the only one put off by the sheer treacle on display here? On the flip side, can any of you vouch for the Jodi Picoult novel of the same name?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-16-2009 @ 11:50AM
Clint said...
The novel was great. She can really write.
I thought the novel was a very cool, under-the-radar scifi story.
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4-16-2009 @ 11:49AM
William Goss said...
Wait, the novel had sci-fi elements?
6-27-2009 @ 8:09AM
josie said...
This book has no sci-fi elements. Jodi Picoult wrote this book after Pre-implantation diagnosis had been doen numerous times to produce a child that is a perfect match for his or her sibling. REad about the Nash Family: http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/Phil100/preimplant.htm
4-16-2009 @ 11:59AM
Clint said...
Maybe speculative fiction would have been better.
The book explores the consequences of parents conceiving a second child expressly for the purpose of organ harvesting for the first child. It doesn't have any of the usual trappings of traditional scifi, but the frame of mind is the same: take an idea, push it beyond what exists now, and talk about how it affects people or a group of people.
In my opinion, that's the best speculative fiction anyway.
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4-16-2009 @ 12:00PM
William Goss said...
That sounds like enough of a difference to make me curious. How do you feel about the tone of the trailer? Does it seem like an accurate adaptation?
7-04-2009 @ 12:44AM
josie said...
This book is not speculative fiction. Pre-implantation diagnosis as a method of choosing a child to use as a donor for a sibling had been done may times before picoult wroter her book. REad about the Nash Family
http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/Phil100/preimplant.htm
4-16-2009 @ 12:10PM
Clint said...
After viewing the trailer, I'm really glad I read the book. :) It's a hell of a lot smarter than that trailer.
This preview looks like exactly how the emotional/moral book that I liked to be directed by the guy who did the Notebook. "heartwarming heartwarming heartwarming! HEARTWARMING! IS YOUR HEART WARM? HOW ABOUT NOW? Ok then."
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4-16-2009 @ 12:59PM
Mr. R said...
glad I read this commentaries, they are truly enlightening but sad at the same time, the subject matter is truly interesting and the heart warming overdose gets very much in the way, including the annoying overcome your pain song. I think it's what killed Spielberg's A.I. too, the heartwarming factor.
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4-16-2009 @ 5:26PM
Drew said...
I can't speak for the movie, but the book is NOTHING like you assume it is in your post. The book is extremely original and intelligent, and deals with a very serious subject matter.
It isn't cutesy, it isn't sappy, and it doesn't manipulate your emotions. If anything, it's an extremely dark story about a family who is right on the verge of completely breaking apart. I can't tell you how many times I had to take a breather from reading the book because it was so shocking and intense (no joke).
Here's hoping the movie isn't afraid to be as controversial as the book.
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4-16-2009 @ 5:29PM
William Goss said...
That's funny, because while I can't speak for the book, I didn't assume anything about it in the post. If you read carefully, I'm only describing the film, or at least the trailer for it.
4-16-2009 @ 10:34PM
Alexandra said...
My Sister's Keeper was the first novel I read by Picoult and have been an avid reader since. Picoult truly challenges you to think outside of the box. I'm already irritated by the movie and have only seen the trailer. The lawyer character is far too old and not smooth enough to be the true Jordan McAfee, not to mention they've changed his name. I doubt Cameron Diaz will be able to pull of the role of a mother who is so determined to save the life of one daughter that she will risk the love and health of another.
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5-07-2009 @ 6:46PM
Sara said...
The book is so amazing, and I will be completely horrified if they change the ending of the movie (which I heard a rumor they did, but we'll just have to wait and see on June 26).
In response to your post, Alec Baldwin, though he is known for his comedic work, is a great actor, and will be able to pull off the part of Campbell Alexander wonderfully. (Jordan McAfee was in The Pact, Salem Falls, and Nineteen Minutes, all of which are some of the better of Picoult's novels.)
I also have great faith in Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz as actresses. I believe that they will be able to pull the characters of Anna and Sara respectively onto the screen. Whether the director has them acting out exact scenes from the novel or decides to switch it up, I believe that Abigail will be able to portray Anna's will and determination to a T, and be able to have the coming of age element of the novel worked into her character. I also think that Cameron is a very accomplished actress, and this role (though this will be one of her first motherly roles) will allow her to reach out in new ways as an actress, and will force her to grow as an actress (there is not much comedy in this novel; we'll see how much gets transferred to the screen).
Oh, and in order for Cameron to play the mother, (as she is only 37 in real life), they made the kids younger than they are in the novel. Jesse is supposed to be 18, Kate is supposed to be 16, and Anna is supposed to be 13. In the movie, I am not quite sure of the ages, but they are assumed to be younger. Though once you get to 12, the idea of Anna suing her parents gets a little ridiculous.....so try not to think of the logistics of Cameron Diaz having 18 year old kids (which actually could be quite possible now that I think about it....)
I completely recommend everyone to read the book, and to try and think of the book and the movie as two separate entities. This way, you can enjoy the story as it was meant to be (the novel) and enjoy what is sure to be a fantastic movie that just happens to include the same named characters doing the same things-just in a different way.
5-07-2009 @ 6:48PM
William Goss said...
Wow, Sara. That has to be one of the most level-headed comments I've seen on this blog.
Really. :) For both our sakes, let's hope you're right.
4-17-2009 @ 2:42AM
Tamara said...
i agree with you about the Cameron Diaz thing, however, the Lawyer from My sister's keeper WAS Campbell Alexander, not Jordan McAfee.
Jordan McAfee was from a different Jodi Picoult novel
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4-19-2009 @ 2:48AM
Tim said...
"Jordan McAfee was from a different Jodi Picoult novel"
From several other novels, in fact. Although I can't quite remember who's right off the top of my head, I'm going to assume that they wouldn't have changed lawyers, just for the sake of it. Jordan is quite a unique character in his own right.
The big thing about the movie is that they changed the ending, thus completely changing the message that the book sends, according to Jodi Picoult herself. This may actually turn out to be a good thing, considering that all of the people who've read the book will know what is going to happen at each step of the way, until the twist at the end. Almost helps to make the movie even more Picoult-like.
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4-19-2009 @ 12:07AM
Liz said...
Sister's Keeper was the first book I read by Picoult. The book itself is a tear jerker, especially the ending. I hope Hollywood has not changed the ending of the movie and I wonder if they are still going to keep the hockey element in the movie since I cannot see Abigail Breslin as a hockey player. I also thought the younger sister was suppose to be taller than the older sister to show a sharper contrast between the two sisters: one healthy and the other ill.
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4-20-2009 @ 12:28PM
Emily C said...
I've read the novel, enjoyed it, but went on to read Piccoult's other work, and it all essentially seems to be the SAME story with the same kinds of characters (so...I guess what I'm saying is that the first Piccoult novel you read will always be your favorite... after awhile, you pick up the pattern).
Regardless, the novel was well written (I thought the girls were a little older, though?), but the ending was crucial: the motives behind the entire plot (Anna's) and the twist. It was subtly characterized; the trailer looks like it's been hackneyed and WAY over done on sap-itude. =p
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4-29-2009 @ 7:38AM
Laura said...
I do agree with you on one point, this is a "weepie" story, there are very emotional things in this book. Specially the end, which is nearly impossible to see coming. Did anyone see it coming?
I think the book makes very good points on such a controversial topic, yet at the same time there's more than just that. We see through the eye's of everyone:
Kate's life as she deals with the cancer and her hardships. The Mom desperate to save one daughter, but still loves the other. The Dad, stuck in the middle. The brother, forgotten and alone. Of course Anna, as she tries to figure out who she is instead of a body full of organs. We see even the lawyer's past, and see his issues he is currently dealing with.
I strongly recommend to read this book. It's intelligent and extremely original.
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5-17-2009 @ 5:01PM
charlottet said...
I personally love the book, and i just hope that the movie make it justice.
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5-28-2009 @ 1:02AM
Shea said...
I just finished the book and then proceeded to watch the trailer. I'm afraid that the traditional shortcomings of book-to-movie films are showing up here as well. For some reason, in order to sell a story on the big screen, characters have to be changed or removed, plot lines dumbed down, and certain aspects of the movie amped up to the point of being obnoxious. The absence of Julia and Izzy from all that I have seen and heard about the movie, the casting of Alec Baldwin and Cameron Diaz, and the subtle editing of the plot so far (which is only subtle because I have not found out about the alternate ending) do not bode well for this movie in my opinion. The book was realistic, honest, and touching in a way that didn't make you gag at the sentimentality. I can't imagine the story with a different ending or minus certain characters. I am very nervous for June 26th...
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