365 Days. 365 Films.

From the director of The Notebook comes a film about an eleven-year-old girl called Anna (Breslin) who is suing her parents for forcing her to provide blood, tissue and internal organs for her dying sister. Kate Fitzgerald (Vassilieva) has had cancer since a young age, and her mother (Diaz) is determined to save her no matter what. Upon hearing of their daughter’s illness, they decide to have another baby, Anna, who has been genetically composed to be a perfect match for Kate.

Part family drama, part courtroom drama, this is an especially difficult film to watch for many reasons, and you would have to be some sort of monster to not be moved by it. However, as much as I did cry at this film, it’s not quite so genuine as you would like it to be. A lot of the emotions are overcrowded by too much soppy music and the director was clearly trying too hard to evoke these emotions.

The performances are fantastic nonetheless, Vassilieva is someone I am not familiar with, although her performance shone through as one of the best which is an achievement for a relative unknown. I stand by Breslin’s talent in everything she does, and she has come a long way since Little Miss Sunshine – she is one of the greatest child actors we have today and she will surely only get better. One star who stood out, for me, was Cameron Diaz – I adore Cameron Diaz in everything in she has done, and this was a very difficult role for her. As a mother she has to care for a cancerous child and go against her other daughter, yet she remained genuine throughout the film. In fact, the acting was the only genuine part of this film – unfortunately, this is a long way from The Notebook.