If I Stay Review

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, Mirielle Enos, Stacy Keach

If I Stay is the film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Gayle Forman. In it, Mia Hall is a teenager with everything going for her. She has a great relationship with her parents, has found the love of her life in her boyfriend, and passionately plays the cello, a talent that she auditions to Julliard for. One day, everything changes, and she's involved in a car accident that leaves both of her parents dead, and she in a comatose state. While in this coma, she has an out-of-body experience, and has to choose whether to stay with her boyfriend, or die and be with her family. It's an incredibly sad movie, and is at times very emotionally manipulative.

Readers of the book will be happy to know, that for the most part it doesn't change anything from the novel. Certain things are taken out, and certain things are added in. That's what happens with every book turned movie. Few scenes happen differently, but the outcome is still the same. Even though I'm a reader of the book, I can't complain about that. What I can complain about, is the tone. The tone just becomes so mixed halfway through the movie. The story flips between Mia's experience in the hospital with her body, and her past memories that are influencing her decision to stay or not. Particularly the ones with her boyfriend Adam, are the most tedious to me. It actually spends more time on the romantic backstory than watching her family and friends in the hospital, the latter of which I think is much more interesting to watch. Because of this, the audience is crying their hearts out at one scene, and in an instant, everything changes. I'm not sure if that's just because instant change is the underlying theme of the movie, but I don't like to feel like a movie is controlling my emotions. If I feel upset, I want it to be because I connect with the characters and feel for their struggle. And with the movie's script, I never felt like I could connect with Mia.

It's hard not to make the comparison to the other young-adult book adaptation The Fault in Our Stars. The Fault in Our Stars is simply a better movie. While it's another tearjerker, I never felt that it was manipulating me to feel the way I felt. I connected with those characters. And while I never connected with Moretz in the movie, she is very good in the role. The real standouts are her parents, specifically her mother (Mirielle Enos). Her parents, while hippie-like rockers, are very supportive of her cello and her love for classical music. It's sad to see them go so quickly in the film (yes, the car crash happens right off) but through the flashbacks, you learn to love the relationship she has with her mother and father, which makes it even sadder to see them gone.

I don't really recommend anyone go see it, since it really doesn't shine in any ways. With young adult novels, you look for something special. For instance, there are so many sci-fi adaptations out there, it's easy to see why The Hunger Games and Divergent have broken out, because they clearly separate from the pack. Coming right after the breakout young-adult drama of the year, which dealt with childhood cancer and was also very sad, there's just nothing that makes If I Stay special. While it's in no way a bad movie, because of the subject matter and the way it's handled, I just wouldn't recommend it. When I got out of the movie, I just felt so sad. And I've left many movies feeling that way, but there was always reflection. There was simply nothing to reflect on with this movie. It didn't leave me thinking at all.

Rating: 2/5 stars