Indie Gems: Now is Good

-
I guess Dakota Fanning still wanted to play the sick girl after dropping out of My Sister's Keeper.
 
All kidding aside, this movie surprised me. Tessa (Dakota Fanning) is a British teenager that is dying from leukemia. Like many, she has a list of things she wants to accomplish before she goes. Though her list includes things like taking drugs, shop lifting and having sex. Tessa struggles with her relationship with her father (Paddy Constantine) who can't stand the thought of losing her and with her mother (Olivia Williams) who is never there. Tessa meets Adam (Jeremy Irvine) and falls in love. That certainly wasn't on her list.
 
The outline of this movie is very generic. The sick girl that falls in love right before she dies, but Dakota's Tessa just feels different. There were times I was angry with her about how disrespectful she is towards her father, and then there were times I understood where she was coming from. I think that's what set this film apart from others like My Sister's Keeper. Tessa isn't perfect. She's actually got some pretty shitty morals at times, but she's still deserves something good before she passes. Even though the ending was predictable, it still tore me apart. It's sad to think of someone's child dying before them.
 
I almost referred to Dakota Fanning as a "good little actress" and I need to stop doing that. She's not little anymore. She's an adult, and she gives a hell of a performance. The music really stands out in this film. It's not the sappy sad songs one would expect.
 
Grade: B
 
Memorable Quote: "Not for much longer." - Tessa (Dakota Fanning)

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 9, 2013 at 8:54 AM

    I remember when this came out and then it just...disappeared. Nice write up. I'll try and check this out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 9, 2013 at 1:48 PM

      I remember when it was being filmed, then I have no idea what happened to it. It was good enough to get a decent theatrical release, in my opinion. Especially for Fanning's performance.

      Delete
  2. m.brownAugust 10, 2013 at 8:09 AM

    Sounds predictable, but still interesting. Fanning is typically so good, but my wife would kill me if I brought this one into the house.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 11, 2013 at 5:30 PM

      The end crazy depressing. So if you need to get in a good cry, this will be it.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousAugust 10, 2013 at 11:51 AM

    This actually sounds like good, even if it's just an edgier version of the terminally ill child tear-jerker. Especially since it includes Paddy Constantine and Dakota Fanning. Adding it to my list. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 11, 2013 at 5:29 PM

      I remember you liked Paddy Constantine. I need to see more films of his. I've only seen this and My Summer of Love.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more