Running
Time: 1 Hour & 46 Minutes
Cast-
Chloë
Grace Moretz-Mia Hall
Jamie
Blackley-Adam Wilde
Mireille
Enos-Kat Hall
Joshua
Leonard-Denny Hall
Jakob
Davies-Teddy Hall
Stacy
Keach-Gramps
Gabrielle
Rose-Gran
Liana
Liberato-Kim
Lauren
Lee Smith-Willow
Adam
Solomonian-Henry
Chelah
Horsdal-Liddy
Arielle
Tuliao-Astrid
Aisha
Hinds-Nurse Ramirez
Gabrielle
Cerys Haslett-Young Mia Hall
Directed
by R.J. Cutler
Note: Screened on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at Regal E-Walk Stadium 13.
 |
| Ah, young love. |
Another
week, another film based on a best-selling young adult novel. Published back in
2009, Gayle Forman's If I Stay was
once touted as 'the next Twilight'
when the film rights were snatched up by Summit Entertainment—before the book
was even released on store shelves (an increasingly common trend nowadays). Catherine
Hardwicke, who brought Stephenie Meyer's first Twilight novel to the big screen in 2008, signed on to direct but
she left the project in 2010 to helm Warner Brothers' "Red Riding Hood"
instead. Development on the "If I Stay" film further stalled when
Hollywood began focusing on adapting all the dystopian and paranormal YA bestsellers
it could get its hands on, like "The Hunger Games," "Divergent,"
"The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," "Beautiful Creatures,"
and "Vampire Academy." Meanwhile, Brazilian director Heitor Dhalia—whose
previous credits include 2009's "À Deriva" starring Camilla Belle and
Vincent Cassel—replaced Hardwicke. Dakota Fanning was in talks to play the main
character in Forman's novel but she and Dhalia eventually dropped out as well. The
project found a new home with MGM when Summit put it into turnaround last June,
with Warner Brothers coming on board earlier this year. Chloë Grace Moretz was
officially cast in the lead role while documentarian R.J. Cutler was announced as
the new director in what would be his narrative feature debut. Whatever made
Forman's novel so special seems to have been lost in the five years it took for
the film adaptation to arrive on the big screen. The target audience will devour
"If I Stay" like 'a bowl of soup waiting for them on a cold and
stormy evening' (Sean O'Connell, Cinema
Blend) but for the rest of us, there's little to latch onto besides
Moretz's luminous performance.
Months
away from graduating high school, seventeen-year-old cello prodigy Mia Hall
(Chloë Grace Moretz) is anxiously sitting at home on a snow day while awaiting
word on whether or not she's been accepted into Juilliard. Her relationship
with sensitive rocker boyfriend Adam Wilde (Jamie Blackley) has also become distant
since he's been away on tour. Refusing to leave their daughter to mope around anticipating
the mail all day, Mia's parents Kat and Denny (Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard)
convinces her to tag along with them and her little brother Teddy (Jakob Davies)
for a drive despite the inclement conditions. While on their way to visit longtime
family friends Willow and Henry (Lauren Lee Smith and Adam Solomonian) and
their new baby, the Hall's car is struck head-on by an out-of-control vehicle
on an icy Portland road. As emergency workers rush onto the scene to treat the
victims, Mia finds herself having an out-of-body experience. Unable to be seen
or heard by anyone, the teenager can only watch as doctors frantically work to
save her comatose physical body while Adam, her grandparents (Stacy Keach and Gabrielle
Rose), and best friend Kim (Liana Liberato) struggle with the thought of losing
her. With her parents and younger brother's survival in doubt, Mia must decide
whether to let herself die or return to the world of the living, knowing that
her life will never be the same.
 |
| Run, Chloe, run! |
R.J.
Cutler's "If I Stay" plays to the same crowd that adored June's
well-received box office hit "The Fault in Our Stars" but it pales in
comparison to Josh Boone's big screen adaptation of John Green's critically-acclaimed
2012 novel, which was smarter, better written, and earned its tears. It also had
a pair of strong leads with Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Their impeccable
on-screen chemistry with each other is the biggest reason why many critics were
so taken with Boone's film. These teen-oriented tearjerkers only work if you can
invest in the main characters and that's one of the issues with "If I Stay"
as I never really felt that special 'spark' between Chloë Grace Moretz and Jamie
Blackley. Now I'm not saying they gave bad performances. In fact, Moretz is fantastic
as Mia but Blackley's Adam unfortunately comes across as stiff and wooden when
compared to his co-star. Part of the problem lies with Shauna Cross' dialogue,
which is full of syrupy declarations of love like the 'you who are tonight is
the same you I was in love with yesterday, the same you I'll be in love with
tomorrow.' That's quite a lot of yous in that sentence! While this might've worked
in Gayle Forman's book, it sounds rather silly when said out-loud because…well,
no one actually talks like that in real life.
This
leads into another issue: none of the characters ever feel like real people. Adam
is completely devoted to Mia. He's a true gentleman despite his bad-boy
exterior, and is always understanding and never neglectful. Adam is pretty much
THE perfect boyfriend…except for a few instances where the plot forces him into
spasms of dickitude. Mia's ex-punk rocker parents are similarly perfect. They're
hip and super-cool, a fact that the film is very keen to remind you of as Kat and
Denny constantly namedrop famous past rockers like Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop
into their conversations. They even encourage their daughter to stay out late at
one point! Look, it's great that they're so carefree but their behavior soon becomes
a little insufferable and you wonder when they're going to start acting like real
parents, and set some rules and boundaries. You can argue that everyone has to be
perfect so that Mia is reminded of all she's lost while her spirit hovers over
her comatose body yet this approach to loss comes across as manipulative and it
prevents viewers from identifying with anyone. Even with its dour subject matter,
"If I Stay" never presents any real challenge to any of its characters.
Vulture's Bilge Ebiri says it best in
his review: 'More often than not, stories and characters we're invested in come
from messier places; it's the rough edges of our lives that make us more
interesting and human.' Since no one in Cutler's film feels real, you're unable
to emotionally invest in Mia's predicament.
 |
| It tries its best but "If I Stay" never quite brings the feels. |
If
there's one reason to watch "If I Stay," it's Chloë Grace Moretz. From
the superheroine Hit-Girl in "Kick-Ass" to lonely vampire Abby in
"Let Me In," the seventeen-year-old actress has always had an
eclectic taste in film roles. Despite being saddled with a melodramatic script,
Moretz manages to bring a soulful humanity to Mia while also capturing the
thrill and heartbreak that comes with experiencing your first love as a youth.
I may not be able to relate to her character but her performance remains impressive
thanks to her strong commitment to the role. However, I can't say the same for Jamie
Blackley, who seems to have been cast more for his looks. Although Blackley's
not terrible per se, he's just too bland to make much of an impression. As Mia's
parents, Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard provide some amusing moments but as
mentioned previously, their characters are not real people. Stacy Keach, on the
other hand, is a standout alongside Moretz. He has the most heartfelt scene in
the film when his character sits at his granddaughter's bedside and tearfully
says to her that it's okay to 'let go.' Keach's incredibly moving performance
is raw and emotionally honest, and you wish the rest of "If I Stay"
lived up to that single scene instead of wallowing in cloying sentimentalism.
Released
on August 22, 2014, "If I Stay" has received mixed reviews with 41%
on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised Chloë Grace Moretz's performance but found
the film 'more manipulative than moving.' However, the target audience won't care.
They'll eat it up, as evidenced by the audible sniffles at the advance screening
I attended. "If I Stay" also had a solid debut at the weekend box
office with $16.4 million. Films based on a young adult novel are usually very
front-loaded so it'll likely top out around $40 million. It's a far cry from "The
Fault in Our Stars" but "If I Stay" isn't a terrible film thanks
to Moretz's presence. Unfortunately, it never quite hits its emotional mark.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
"Sometimes
you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you."
+Poster.jpg)
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