I admit to initially being interested in this film because of Wood, but Gore, Perrino, Garofalo, and Cook were strong, as well. Cook's role is muted; some of her fans may be turned off by the quietness of her performance, but I felt the portrayal entirely within reason, since her character is tied to the film mostly because her brother is dying. Her character was displaced and knew it, and her friendship with Wood's character was very much one of mutual comfort. They were basically just content to be in each other's presence; there were no unneeded theatrics between them. I thought it was cool.
The film began slowly and the pace it picked up to was not in action but in psychology. The premise (which you don't discover until the end), is that cancer may be put into remission if the mind forgets it must support the cancerous cells; mind over matter, so to speak. This "cure" comes at the expense of your memories of who you are, however. You have a sort of amnesia--the painful part is when you are faced with going through the procedure again when the cancer reappears, and you will probably loose all of the memories of the friends you made, and the things you learned, and once again, who you are.
It took me a few minutes to understand the premise after it was revealed, but the painfulness of what it would be like to live like that did not sink in until the scene where Wood's character effectively said good-bye to Cook's. They were two young people who were thinking and serious beyond their years. They were faced with death and illness when most of us are out partying.
When he is facing losing himself and his memories of their friendship, he grabs on to the lapels of her coat as if holding on to them will keep him there. You can see that she knows what she's loosing, as well: a friend who has just listened and not demanded. Someone who took the time to know her as a person, who she felt could understand when she expressed her own pain and frustration.
When they kiss, you realize with a start that they are both barely out of their teens. They somehow feel older until you see the innocence and the inexperience evidenced in their kiss. I've never before seen a moment quite like the one Wood portrayed there--a young man, desperate and saddened in the knowledge that he will lose what he holds in his arms, yet unwilling to let her go and trying to express his need for her for the first time. The moment that really struck me was not the initial feeling of desperation, but rather the expression that immediately followed it, of "wow" and relief and release of tension and a breath of stunned virginity, for lack of a better term. And then, immediately following on the heels of that, a desire for more--and then a moment of simply being held. It was young, it was old, it was poignant, sweet, painful, and very well acted.
I've seen my share of film kisses, but this one was different. Just go and watch this movie! It's under-appreciated, and it is not your usual sick-ward sort of movie. It was effective, but like Connie Willis' "Bellwether," you don't realize it until you reach the end--which in some sense is its brilliance. You are just as disjointed and in a fog as Wood's character, only finding definition as he does, as he builds friends and experiences. That is why it is so painful by the end, because you have begun to treasure what he does, and it will be gone.
The film began slowly and the pace it picked up to was not in action but in psychology. The premise (which you don't discover until the end), is that cancer may be put into remission if the mind forgets it must support the cancerous cells; mind over matter, so to speak. This "cure" comes at the expense of your memories of who you are, however. You have a sort of amnesia--the painful part is when you are faced with going through the procedure again when the cancer reappears, and you will probably loose all of the memories of the friends you made, and the things you learned, and once again, who you are.
It took me a few minutes to understand the premise after it was revealed, but the painfulness of what it would be like to live like that did not sink in until the scene where Wood's character effectively said good-bye to Cook's. They were two young people who were thinking and serious beyond their years. They were faced with death and illness when most of us are out partying.
When he is facing losing himself and his memories of their friendship, he grabs on to the lapels of her coat as if holding on to them will keep him there. You can see that she knows what she's loosing, as well: a friend who has just listened and not demanded. Someone who took the time to know her as a person, who she felt could understand when she expressed her own pain and frustration.
When they kiss, you realize with a start that they are both barely out of their teens. They somehow feel older until you see the innocence and the inexperience evidenced in their kiss. I've never before seen a moment quite like the one Wood portrayed there--a young man, desperate and saddened in the knowledge that he will lose what he holds in his arms, yet unwilling to let her go and trying to express his need for her for the first time. The moment that really struck me was not the initial feeling of desperation, but rather the expression that immediately followed it, of "wow" and relief and release of tension and a breath of stunned virginity, for lack of a better term. And then, immediately following on the heels of that, a desire for more--and then a moment of simply being held. It was young, it was old, it was poignant, sweet, painful, and very well acted.
I've seen my share of film kisses, but this one was different. Just go and watch this movie! It's under-appreciated, and it is not your usual sick-ward sort of movie. It was effective, but like Connie Willis' "Bellwether," you don't realize it until you reach the end--which in some sense is its brilliance. You are just as disjointed and in a fog as Wood's character, only finding definition as he does, as he builds friends and experiences. That is why it is so painful by the end, because you have begun to treasure what he does, and it will be gone.