Ann is 23-years-old, she has 2 young daughters, a husband who spends more time unemployed than working, a mother who hates the world, a father who has spent the last ten years in jail, and a job as a night janitor in a university that she could never attend in the daytime. They all live in a trailer, on the yard of her mother's .. Read more
| Starring | Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman, Deborah Harry, Mark Ruffalo |
|---|---|
| Director | Isabel Coixet |
| Genres | Drama, Romance |
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Ann is 23-years-old, she has 2 young daughters, a husband who spends more time unemployed than working, a mother who hates the world, a father who has spent the last ten years in jail, and a job as a night janitor in a university that she could never attend in the daytime. They all live in a trailer, on the yard of her mother's house, in the outskirts of Vancouver. However, this gray existence changes completely when, after a medical check-up, a doctor tells Ann that she has very little time left on this earth. Learning that she has hardly two months to live, Ann decides to keep her condition a secret, and refuses to tell anybody--not even her husband--about her time remaining. She does not want people around her with long faces, and obsessed with her approaching death. Ann starts to make a list of things to do before dying, which she completes little by little. The list targets a wide range of things to which she must attend, including carrying out tasks like: saying exactly what she thinks to certain people; as well as getting herself some fake fingernails. Unexpectedly, Ann discovers an appetite for life that drives her to live her last days with a sensual and furious intensity she had not known before. During this short time, she prepares her daughters for a life without her; she meets a solitary wounded man, whom she seduces; and most importantly, Ann faces what remains of her life with a certain steadfast courage she never knew she possessed.
| Starring | Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman, Deborah Harry, Mark Ruffalo, Leonor Watling, Amanda Plummer, Julian Richings, Maria De Medeiros |
|---|---|
| Director | Isabel Coixet |
| Studio | METRODOME |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 46 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Romance |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 2003 To Rent: DVD: 10 Apr 2004 |
The small details we take for granted in everyday life are celebrated with passion in this warm and bittersweet drama. Springing out of tragedy, it follows a 23-year-old, working-class mother of two (Sarah Polley) who learns to appreciate the value of existence when she's diagnosed as terminally ill. Far from a maudlin “disease of the week” movie, this beautifully shot tale is a wonderfully perceptive, wryly amusing and occasionally surreal experience. Spanish writer/director Isabel Coixet's soulful heroine is as much an eternal optimist as she is a realist, despite her convict father, work-shy husband and resentful mother (singer Deborah Harry). Consequently, as she systematically puts her world in order so that life can continue without her, it's both heart-rending and joyfully uplifting. Polley delivers a customarily natural central performance, assisted by colourful turns from Maria de Medeiros and Mark Ruffalo. But it's Harry who's the real revelation, brooding her days away with the pain of the world etched into her weary, disillusioned face.
54 out of 68 people found this review helpful
Manipulative and false
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[Highly rated reviewer]
The best film ever
Maybe not ever as i have other favourties but this film is definitely the best. Really depressing but it is so good and true. It brings things into perspective ... read more »
refreshingly un-hollywood
I liked this. I liked the themes that it explored. I liked that the characters were real, Good quality acting - Deborah Harry was really really good.
weepy
A weepy for the ladies, a film to watch on your own when kids and hubby at work. I thought this film was very sad, good acting.
100% from 3 members
