My Life Without Me (2003)

Mmm, death around the corner calls foooor... PANCAKES!

Genre: Romance Drama (Spain, Canada)

Starring: Sarah Polley (Beowulf & Grendel; Dawn Of The Dead), Scott Speedman (Underworld; "Felicity")

Directed By: Isabel Coixet (The Secret Life Of Words; Paris, Je T'aime)

Overview: A woman dying of terminal cancer decides to keep the secret from her family, and truly live as much as she can.

Acting: How rare is it to see an accomplished female director? Pretty rare. I dare you. Think of a female director who isn't Copolla. Right. Sadly this director hasn't done too much I know about mainly because it's French and Spanish, but I'll see the next one, for sure. With a nice mixed cast of huge names and sort-of-recognizable, including two people from Pulp Fiction, this category gets a super high rating. Even Blondie's in this!
Rating: 9

Cinematography: The images weren't high art, but there were definitely moments of poetic displays. The whole mood of the impoverished trailer park and the janitorial job make for relatively static scenes, but they went out of their way to make set the scenes well.
Rating: 8

Script: The writing is one of the best scripts I've heard. After a while I decided to start painting and just listen. Ever so often i would just say, "Wow" at how the writing was honest, dramatic and entertaining throughout every single scene. Especially those few scenes with the doctor. I wish there had been more.
Rating: 10

Plot: The story is amazing. This is simple. A woman's going to die and writes a list of what to do before she passes away and does as many as she can squeeze in. I don't want to ruin a single one of the choices she writes down, but some are controversial, and you find yourself quickly forgiving her list. See this, really.
Rating: 9

Mood: The mood could have stood to be a little better, certainly compared to the rest of the amazing work. I found the light-hearted Milli Vanilli moments not so appropriate (though they were funny), but characters like Blondie, who plays her mom and the actual home they live in and the place she works really makes you realize that her options are limited.
Rating: 7

"Um, the next thing I was to give away is my red sock collection... but I want to make sure it never gets split up..."

Overall Rating: 86% (Life Without This? Not recommended.)

Aftertaste: The options were Alien Vs. Predator, Garden State (which I've seen already) and this. Am I ever glad! Perfect movie to paint to. A nice couple of hours, definitely. Highly recommended for the feel-good tragedy film (yes, they exist, just think Mar Ardento).