My Sister's Keeper

The other night my family and I watched the movie My Sister's Keeper. The movie is based on the novel by Jodi Picoult and directed by Nick Cassavetes. This touching drama is about a loving family challenged by a child's illness. The Fitzgerald's are devestated when the daughter is diagnosed with leukemia and none of the family are matches. This is why Anna is born. She was genetically engineered to be a donor for her sister. From birth she has been donating to her sister and at eleven years old she's had a enough. She demands the right to her own body and goes as far as hiring a lawyer to achieve this. This choice causes turbulence in the family but ultimatley it is the first step in the realization of what it means to be a family.
This movie made me laugh and cry, I thought the actors did phenominal portraying the myriad roles. Even though I didn't care for the character she played I thought Cameron Diaz did an excellent job. I enjoyed seeing her play a serious role, when previously I had watched her in comedic movies. I also thought Sofia Vassilieva, the girl who played the dying girl Kate, did a a wonderful job. I imagine it would be quite difficult to play the role of a sick child.
The scenes I liked in the movie were the ones where Anna and her lawyer were discussing her situation. I liked how mature and intelligent her character was. Something I didn't care for was Cameron Diaz's character. I think she played the role well and it was necessary for the story but I was angry at the character. To me it was clear that she didn't care about Anna as much as her other daughter and did things that I was appalled at. At one point in anger she slaps Anna and I thought, as a mother, it was uncalled for.
I would only recomend this movie if you know what you're getting into. Make sure you keep a box of kleenex close at hand becuase this is a tearjerker.