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Movie review - My Sister's Keeper
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"My Sister's Keeper", a movie loosely based on the best selling novel of the same name by Jodi Picoult, opened Friday in theaters nationwide. An honest and gut-wrenching portrayal of a family's life inside the "cancer cage", this film is not for those looking for Hollywood's usual spin on the topic.
The story surrounds the plight of the Fitzgerald family, who has been battling to keep the oldest daughter, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), alive, despite her grave diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Diagnosed at just two years of age, Kate's only hope for long-term survival is an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. As her only sibling at the time, Jesse (Evan Ellingson), is not a match, and waiting for a donor match to appear on the national marrow registry involves additional risks, her parents, Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric), are advised "off the record" by oncologist, Dr. Chance (David Thornton) that there may be another way. He suggests that the couple consider conceiving another child for the purpose of gaining a perfect match for an umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant, which carries less risk for rejection. Desperate to save their child's life, the couple agrees to genetically engineer their daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), for this very purpose.
Throughout the next 11 years, the sisters become extremely close, with Anna donating whatever additional stem cells or blood that Kate needs along the way to keep her alive, until Anna suddenly says she no longer wishes to be her sister's donor, filing for legal medical emancipation with the help of lawyer Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin). Though the parents are perplexed, they begin second guessing themselves. Perhaps they were wrong creating one child to save another. Perhaps they should have given Anna a choice in whether or not to become her sister's donor. But wouldn't she have been too young to make a decision of that sort? But if Anna had been the sick one, wouldn't they have done the same for her?
As the story progresses to it's raw, unexpected conclusion, viewers are rewarded for their tears with unsentimental honesty. For once, Hollywood does not choose to belittle the reality of cancer with cliches. Anna delivers to viewers in her own simple words the truth of the devastation her family has endured.
For this reason, the tone of "My Sister's Keeper" will ring true for many families who have lived with the difficulties of chronic illness. Caregivers will relate to Sara, as the single-minded mother whose only mission is to keep her daughter alive, often at the expense of other family members' needs, as well as her own. Siblings of the chronically ill will relate to Jesse, as one who is often overlooked, but still yearns to be an essential part of the family. And of course, young people diagnosed with cancer or other chronic diseases will relate to Kate, who struggles to lead a normal teenage life, despite her illness. Young cancer patients will find sadness, humor, and truth in Kate's relationship with Taylor (Thomas Dekker), also a leukemia patient. Even though the two go through chemotherapy together, Kate still stresses over finding a dress with just the right neckline to hide her Hickman catheter for a special dance the two attend together at the hospital.
For the purpose of this column, it is important to note that throughout Anna's court case seeking medical emancipation, much drama was made over the detrimental effects of Anna's stem cell donations. Her lawyer went into great detail about the pain she endured throughout the donation process, including the size of the needle used for the bone marrow aspiration. However, readers should know that bone marrow donation does not generally require a bone marrow aspiration, nor is it the barbarically painful process it is made out to be in the film. For accurate information on donating bone marrow, please click here.
In addition, readers should also realize that, according to current research, claims made about kidney donation in the context of Anna's court case are not necessarily accurate. The University of Maryland Medical Center website states that "Kidney donation does not change life expectancy or increase a person’s risks of developing kidney disease or other health problems. After recovering from surgery, a donor can work, drive, exercise and participate in sports. Also, being a donor does not impact a person’s ability to have a child."
For more info: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, National Kidney Foundation
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