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| Directed by R.J. Cutler Written by Shauna Cross |
Two weeks ago, in in my review of The Giver, I stated that there were five YA movies that were either being released or had already been released this year. Divergent, The Fault In Our Stars, The Giver, The Maze Runner, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Well, it looks like I missed one, today's subject If I Stay, one of the most frustrating movies of the year. I hope I can explain why.
Mia Hall is a bright young woman about to graduate high school that has a passion for playing the cello and just applied to one of the most prestigious liberal arts schools in the country. On the way to visit her relatives, she gets into a terrible car wreck and ends up in critical condition. The bulk of the story concerns her having an out of body experience in the hospital where her body is being treated. She sees her relatives, friends, and boyfriend Adam worrying about her as she decides whether or not it's worth it to wake up.
These scenes, as she struggles with whether to go on, are where If I Stay shines brightest and comes frustratingly close to perfect. Young actress Chloe Grace Moretz is rather brilliant in the lead role, and she completely sells the grief of seeing her immediate family die around her in the emergency room, each passing leaving her with less of a reason not to leave the mortal coil. Unfortunately, this is inter cut with flashbacks, or hallucinations, it isn't entirely clear if she's actually a soul waiting to get to the afterlife, of the last year and her relationship with Adam.
These scenes play out as a twee, indie rock filled, teenage romance that left me thinking "Come on, this is a slog, go back to the hospital, that was great." If I needed shorthand to describe this part of the movie, it would be that it feels like The Fault In Our Stars with none of the charm. Not that these scenes are entirely bad, it's competently shot and acted, there aren't any glaring plot holes to discuss, it just doesn't aim that high.
If I Stay feels like half of a really good movie spliced together with half of a thoroughly mediocre one. The hospital scenes are a fantastic slow burning melancholic mood piece and if that was the entire movie, it would almost be worth a matinee, but it is held back by being fused to a weepie romance story that keeps it strictly in the average category. There's a reason this got dumped at the beginning of the dry spell.
Have a nice day.
Greg.B
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