After sitting through that film, it was almost a relief to see My Life Without Me (opens November 7), in which it is Sarah Polley's turn to play the terminally ill one. Produced by Pedro Almodovar and directed by Isabel Coixet, yet filmed in Vancouver with an international cast, this film has one of the more peculiar and eclectic collections of talent that I've seen in a while.
Polley plays Anne, a 23-year-old woman who lives in a trailer in her mother's backyard with her loving husband (Underworld's Scott Speedman) and her two cute daughters, and who makes ends meet by cleaning blackboards at a university. Despite being so young, Anne discovers she has just a few months left to live, so she makes a checklist of things to do before she dies -- including visiting her father (Frida's Alfred Molina) in prison and getting another man (You Can Count on Me's Mark Ruffalo) to fall in love with her, just to see what it feels like -- and she keeps her condition a secret from her husband, children, and mother (Blondie's Deborah Harry) even as she tries to manipulate things so that they can all have a good life without her. (The film also marks a re-union of sorts for Pulp Fiction co-stars Amanda Plummer, who plays Anne's food- and diet-obsessed co-worker, and Maria de Medeiros, who plays a Milli Vanilli-obsessed hairdresser.)
My Life Without Me is more subtle and playful and thoughtful and inviting than The Event -- which may not be saying much -- and it's a better film overall, but once again, the film is about a person who responds to news of her own imminent demise by acting selfishly. What's more, Anne does not allow those who love her to become part of this moment in her life, but she deliberately keeps them out. The film treats death as an opportunity for self-actualization, not as an opportunity to share one another's burdens in truly loving relationships.
In addition, Anne's voyage of self-discovery may benefit from a cultural double-standard -- would the filmmakers go as easy on a married man who seduced a woman behind his wife's back, knowing that this other woman's heart would be broken when he left her or died a few months from now, just because he had only a few months to live? Somehow I doubt it.
One film that I unfortunately did not get to see, but which I imagine would perfectly fit alongside these other films, is Allan King's documentary Dying at Grace, which captures the last days and moments of five people at a Salvation Army palliative care unit in Toronto. By all accounts, it sounds like a haunting, intimate film, so it's probably worth keeping an eye open for it.
The Barbarian Invasions
Internet Movie Database | Movie Review Query Engine
USA: R | BC: 14A | ON: 14A
The Event
Internet Movie Database | Movie Review Query Engine
USA: Not Rated | BC: 14A | ON: 14A
My Life Without Me
Internet Movie Database | Movie Review Query Engine
USA: R | BC: PG | ON: 14A