My Sister's Keeper

This article is about the 2009 film. For the novel that the film adapted, see My Sister's Keeper (novel).

My Sister's Keeper
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nick Cassavetes
Produced by	Stephen Furst Scott Goldman Mark Johnson Chuck Pacheco Mendel Tropper
Screenplay by	Jeremy Leven Nick Cassavetes Doug Liman
Based on	My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Narrated by	Alec Baldwin
Starring	Cameron Diaz Abigail Breslin Alec Baldwin Jason Patric Sofia Vassilieva Emily Deschanel and Joan Cusack
Music by	Aaron Zigman
Cinematography	Caleb Deschanel
Editing by	Jim Flynn Alan Heim Pietro Scalia
Studio	Curmudgeon Films
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	June 26, 2009 (2009-06-26)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$95,714,875 (worldwide)

My Sister's Keeper is a 2009 American drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva, and Alec Baldwin. Based on Jodi Picoult's novel of the same name,^[1] My Sister's Keeper was released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom on June 26, 2009.

Plot

Conceived by means of in vitro fertilization, Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) was brought into the world to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who suffers from acute promyelocytic leukemia, in order to keep her alive. Her family members are introduced one by one and each tells about how Kate's illness has affected them personally. When Kate turns 15, she goes into renal failure. Eleven-year-old Anna knows that she will be forced by her parents to donate one of her kidneys. She also realizes that she may not be able to live the life she will want to lead - she may be unable to cheer-lead, play soccer, or be a mother. Anna tells her parents that she does not want any of this, and proceeds to sue them for medical emancipation and the rights to her own body. Her extremely overprotective mother, Sara (Cameron Diaz), who leads an obsessive campaign to keep Kate alive, is indignant at Anna's decision and even strikes her across the face when she receives the notice of court proceedings. Attorney Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) agrees to work for Anna as her guardian ad litem, suing for partial termination of parental rights. It is later learned he agreed to take the case not for the notoriety, but because he has epilepsy and understands her predicament of not having control over her own body.

The film is interlaced with flashbacks that detail Kate and Anna's closeness, as well as how Kate's illness has affected her siblings' lives and their relationships. In a flashback, Kate also meets a fellow cancer patient, Taylor Ambrose (Thomas Dekker), whom she begins dating. After a date, they share their first kiss outside Kate's house, with Sara and Kate's father Brian (Jason Patric) watching from their bedroom window. After this, he becomes her boyfriend in and out of hospital and supports her as she undergoes treatment. He then asks her to the hospital's "prom" for teen patients; there, they slow-dance, then proceed to a vacant hospital room to make love. A few days later, Kate is crying because Taylor hasn't called her for several days. Her mother Sara is furious when Kate mentions they did "stuff" after the prom and storms out to ask the nurse where Taylor is, evidently believing that he had dated her daughter merely to sleep with her, and learns that he has died.

Kate makes a request to go to the beach one last time, and Brian obtains permission from her doctor and removes her from the hospital to take her and the kids. Overprotective as ever, Sara is furious when Brian shows up at the house with Kate and demands that she be returned to the hospital. Brian angrily refuses and drives off, threatening Sara with a divorce if she does not join them. Sara later shows up at the beach, where they enjoy one final family outing. To Sara's dismay, the judge (Joan Cusack) refuses to grant summary dismissal, and the case goes to a hearing. During the hearing, Anna and Kate's older brother, Jesse, reveals that Anna's actions are actually under Kate's instruction; Kate, not wanting to live any longer, and knowing Sara refuses to hear any option other than her desired one to keep her alive, had gently persuaded Anna to refuse to donate her kidney - it is also revealed that Anna, due to her own reluctance to see Kate die, had initially been quite upset at Kate's decision. Sara is indignant at this discovery, but is finally forced by both Jesse and Brian to realize that Kate had been trying to tell her this for some time. Before the case is decided, Kate dies while sleeping at the hospital with her mother by her side. After Kate's death, Campbell brings the court decision: Anna won the case. The family moves on with their lives, but every year on Kate's birthday they go to Montana, which was her "most favorite place in the world." At the end, Anna says that she will see Kate again and that meantime their relationship continues.

Production and Cast Changes

Upon the original creation of the film adaption, Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning were cast to play Kate and Anna respectively. The girls closely resembled each other and were used to working together. However, when Dakota heard that she would be required to shave her head for the role, she dropped out of the film as then did Elle. The two sisters were replaced, with Abigail Breslin taking on the lead role as Anna Fitzgerald and Sofia Vassilieva on the role of Kate Fitzgerald.^[2]

Cast

• Sofia Vassilieva as Kate Fitzgerald
• Cameron Diaz as Sara Fitzgerald
• Abigail Breslin as Anna Fitzgerald
• Jason Patric as Brian Fitzgerald
• Evan Ellingson as Jesse Fitzgerald
• Alec Baldwin as Alexander Campbell
• Joan Cusack as Judge De Salvo
• Heather Wahlquist as Aunt Kelly
• Thomas Dekker as Taylor Ambrose
• Lin Shaye as Nurse Adele
• E.G. Daily as Nurse Susan
• Olivia Hancock as Young Kate Fitzgerald
• Brennan Bailey as Young Jesse Fitzgerald
• Emily Deschanel as Dr. Farquad
• Jeffrey Markle as Dr. Wayne
• Amit Khanduja as Chief Surgeon

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 47% of reviews for the film were positive, based on 126 reviews.^[3] another aggregate review site Metacritic reported 51% positive reviews based on 28 reviews.^[4]

Box office

In its opening weekend it placed 5th with a total of $12,442,212, behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Proposal (second weekend), The Hangover (fourth weekend), and Up (fifth weekend).^[5] The film left theatres on October 8, 2009 with a domestic total of $49,200,230 with a further $46,459,927 from foreign markets. It has grossed $95,660,157 worldwide.^[6]

Awards

Changes from book

The director decided to make the ending of the film different from that of the novel, against Picoult's wishes. The end of the novel has Anna killed in a car accident, Campbell steps in and Anna's usable organs are harvested including the vital kidney for Kate who goes into remission, Campbell and Julia end up marrying.

Other story threads were altered:

• Julia Romano - In the book she is an adviser to Anna, she is also romantically involved with Campbell, and heartbroken by him when they were younger.
• The relationship between Jesse and Brian is not explored in the film, whereas in the book Jesse's character is more complex as he started a lot of the fires that Brian had to put out, eventually he finds out and confronts Jesse about them.
• The relationship between Anna and Campbell is not explored as deeply in the film. Campbell is a more central character in the book.
• The history of Campbell and Judge is explained towards the end of the book, during a conversation Campbell and Julia have.
• In the film, Kate dies before the verdict is reached. In the book, she survives with a kidney transplant and has been in remission for six years. Now a dance instructor, Kate believes that someone else had to die and that Anna took her place.
• In the book, Sara is a brunette and though didn't like Taylor kissing Kate at the prom, she didn't want to deny her of having fun there. While in the movie, she's blonde openly and hated it.

Soundtrack

Trailer :

• Vega 4 - Life Is Beautiful

TV Spot :

• James Blunt - Carry You Home
• Plain White T's - 1, 2, 3, 4
• Tyrone Wells - More

Movie:

• Don Ho - Tiny Bubbles
• E.G. Daily - Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries
• Priscilla Ahn - Find My Way Back Home
• Jimmy Scott - Heaven
• Regina Spektor - Better
• Jonah Johnson - With You
• Greg Laswell - Girls Just Want To Have Fun
• Pete yorn - Don’t Wanna Cry
• Phil Xenidis - Kill Me
• Jeff Buckley - We All Fall In Love Sometimes
• Edwina Hayes - Feels Like Home
• Hana Pestle - These Two Hands

References

External links

• Official website
• My Sister's Keeper at Box Office Mojo
• My Sister's Keeper at the Internet Movie Database
• My Sister's Keeper at Rotten Tomatoes