The title is rubbish (you’ve probably already forgotten it). But director Catherine Hardwicke is determined to screw with the cancer-chick-flick formula and, with the help of a fearless Toni Collette, has put together quite an explosive little package.
In their late thirties, London-based best friends Jess (Drew Barrymore) and Milly (Colette) are losing common ground. Jess is healthy; Milly must undergo a double mastectomy. Jess wants a baby; Milly — married with two children — wants to avoid feeling like a “mutant”.
Hardwicke, best known for teen indie-drama Thirteen and the first Twilight film, knows how make the so-called ugly dazzling. The camera hones in reverently on Milly’s post-op body. Later, her scars get snogged in Yorkshire. Anyone who’s had radical surgery, or knows someone who has, is likely to find such sequences uplifting.
The Bowie-esque Collette (think of her as The Woman Who Fell to Earth) is the perfect muse for Hardwicke. The Australian actress is so magnetic that we understand why she’s also adored by her loved ones, even when Milly is being bitchy or selfish (Jess calls her a “cancer bully”). It’s a sinfully nice turn.
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Much is predictable, but the good outweighs the bad. Take the third-act scene where Jess and Milly share a bed (almost as lovely as the bit in Jane Eyre where Helen Burns asks for a goodnight cuddle). Bring a bib to catch the tears.
Cert 12A, 112 mins
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