Film Review: If I Stay
‘If I Stay’ directed by R.J. Cutler is a cinematic take on the impeccable novel written by author Gayle Forman.
The film is a narrated story by the main character Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) as she recounts her life up until the point of a tragic car accident that takes the lives of her whole family including her young brother Teddy (Jakob Davies).
The story line is heart wrenching as we see a young sixteen year old girl enduring an abnormal out of body experience and having to make a choice nobody should ever have to make. Mia has to choose between life and death, sickness waking up an orphan or letting death swallow her up with the rest of her family. More importantly, advice she has to choose between death or Adam ( Jamie Blackley) her heartthrob of a boyfriend whom she loves with all her heart.
Throughout the movie we learn the background story of their relationship played out in a small town called Portland. Mia is into classical music and has a very high chance of getting into the prestigious Julliard School of Arts in New York City, cialis miles away from Adam. Adam is in a rock band that has potential to do very well. We see the contrast of the couple come together as they crash and burn but somehow always find a way back to each other. This relationship pattern portrayed by R.J. Cutler with the help of Forman truly gives the audience hope that Mia will keep fighting.
Mia also looks back on times with her family, the beauty of love and care is really portrayed brilliantly as we see Mia, Teddy, her mother (Mireille Enos) and her father (Joshua Leonard) embark on some amazing family trips, and heartaches. Every time her parents and brother show up on the screen in a memory of Mia’s, your heart breaks again and again as you come to realise that they are no longer in existence, they are gone and Mia has to decide if she should stay.
The story is beautifully crafted for the big screen by the actors chosen. Moretz she gives so much emotion to her role that you just want to jump into the screen and reach for her to comfort her. We see the people she may potentially leave behind, her grandparents (Stacy Keach) and (Gabrielle Rose), her friends, relatives and, of course, Adam. Each character is played perfectly as they fight to try keep Mia in this world by telling her that she still has a family and that they love her too much to lose her. Blackley really steals the screen as he entraps the whole audience in his rage of love and anger as he tries to imagine life without his beautiful Mia and we see him go to great lengths to try and keep her with him.
This film is a perfect portrayal of the book – I saw most people leaving the cinema with tears in their eyes or mascara cascading down their face. This movie truly was brilliant with a fantastic, unexpected ending that made the whole cinema react accordingly. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes a good romantic sob story. Don’t forget the tissues !!!!!!
By Megan Hoare
