June 27, 2009
I saw My Sister’s Keeper with my best friend last night. Bring tissues. Lots and lots of tissues! We made the unfortunate mistake of not bringing any since we normally can control the waterworks well in theatres. Yeah…no. I have never cried so much in a public setting in my life! I think what made it even sadder for me was that I had read the book. So as soon as they showed Taylor I started bawling. Normally, everyone would think the whole prom scene was cute, but it was damn near the saddest thing I’d ever seen since I knew he was going die. **Slight Spoiler below** The movie is a lot different from the book. It kind of makes me mad that they completely changed the whole ending. The fact that they had Anna live was really frustrating. That’s what made the story so dramatic. When you’re reading the book you do not see that coming at all. And that’s how life works. I feel like Jodi Picoult’s message was that anyone can die. It can happen at any time to anyone. That’s what makes life so precious. I also didn’t like that they didn’t include the story line with Campbell and Julia. I thought that was part of Picoult’s brilliance. Contrasting devastation and death with love and rediscovery. That even though shitty things happen in the world it’s not all bad. Good things can and do happen. Even amongst the most unexpected of circumstances. The movie also seemed to neglect Brian (the dad). In the book, the reader really sees how much he loves both of his daughters. He stands up for Anna, wants to protect her, and supports her. That’s something we don’t really see in the movie, and I think that’s a real shame. The position that he is in as a father is just as tragic as Sarah’s and yet he kind of gets lost among everything else in the movie. Jesse. That’s another character that I feel was underdeveloped. In the book, he cries out for attention by becoming an arsonist. The irony being that his father is a firefighter. That is not only powerful, but essential to the family’s story. They are so consumed with keeping Kate alive that they fail to notice their eldest son. This is touched on in the movie, but barely. I also feel they didn’t do a good job of letting the cat out of the bag that it was Kate’s idea. In the book it’s something you don’t see coming. Anna’s struggling with having to testify, and the reader gets to experience her turmoil. What would I do? Why is she doing this? And then we find out. Not so in the movie. They have Jesse causing a fuss and they completely gloss over Campbell’s epileptic episode. All in all the movie was good. Don’t get me wrong. I think if you’ve never read the book you will really enjoy it. However, if you have read the book I think you’ll feel a little disappointed. The book was so powerful and the movie failed to capture a lot of that. I wonder how Jodi Picoult feels about it. Whatever you do though, make sure you read the book at some point. It really is a work of pure brilliance.

I saw My Sister’s Keeper with my best friend last night. Bring tissues. Lots and lots of tissues! We made the unfortunate mistake of not bringing any since we normally can control the waterworks well in theatres. Yeah…no. I have never cried so much in a public setting in my life!

I think what made it even sadder for me was that I had read the book. So as soon as they showed Taylor I started bawling. Normally, everyone would think the whole prom scene was cute, but it was damn near the saddest thing I’d ever seen since I knew he was going die.

**Slight Spoiler below**

The movie is a lot different from the book. It kind of makes me mad that they completely changed the whole ending. The fact that they had Anna live was really frustrating. That’s what made the story so dramatic. When you’re reading the book you do not see that coming at all. And that’s how life works. I feel like Jodi Picoult’s message was that anyone can die. It can happen at any time to anyone. That’s what makes life so precious.

I also didn’t like that they didn’t include the story line with Campbell and Julia. I thought that was part of Picoult’s brilliance. Contrasting devastation and death with love and rediscovery. That even though shitty things happen in the world it’s not all bad. Good things can and do happen. Even amongst the most unexpected of circumstances.

The movie also seemed to neglect Brian (the dad). In the book, the reader really sees how much he loves both of his daughters. He stands up for Anna, wants to protect her, and supports her. That’s something we don’t really see in the movie, and I think that’s a real shame. The position that he is in as a father is just as tragic as Sarah’s and yet he kind of gets lost among everything else in the movie.

Jesse. That’s another character that I feel was underdeveloped. In the book, he cries out for attention by becoming an arsonist. The irony being that his father is a firefighter. That is not only powerful, but essential to the family’s story. They are so consumed with keeping Kate alive that they fail to notice their eldest son. This is touched on in the movie, but barely.

I also feel they didn’t do a good job of letting the cat out of the bag that it was Kate’s idea. In the book it’s something you don’t see coming. Anna’s struggling with having to testify, and the reader gets to experience her turmoil. What would I do? Why is she doing this? And then we find out. Not so in the movie. They have Jesse causing a fuss and they completely gloss over Campbell’s epileptic episode.

All in all the movie was good. Don’t get me wrong. I think if you’ve never read the book you will really enjoy it. However, if you have read the book I think you’ll feel a little disappointed. The book was so powerful and the movie failed to capture a lot of that. I wonder how Jodi Picoult feels about it. Whatever you do though, make sure you read the book at some point. It really is a work of pure brilliance.

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