"If I Stay"... Long Enough To Actually Care

The Trailer:

Director: R.J. Cutler

Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, Mireille Enos, & Joshua Leonard

Synopsis: After a tragic car accident, Mia Hall (Chloë Grace Moretz) has an out of body experience while in a coma. She must decide whether she will wake up and live out her life, even though it is clear that it will never be as it was, or if she will allow herself be coaxed into death.

Unfortunately, I have to say that I wasn't impressed with this movie. Maybe it's because I was mentally comparing the movie to the book (which I thought was beautiful and poignant). Not much was lost in the book to movie process, mostly just the emotional impact of the book.

I was mostly disappointed with Mia's character. She seemed much more self-involved, whereas in the book she was mostly concerned with her family especially in the beginning right after the crash: Mia is all over looking for her parents and her brother before the paramedics arrive, but in the movie she pretty much goes immediately to her own body and stays there not even concerned with her family. And I just didn't love Chloë Grace Moretz as Mia. Which is such a shame considering how much I love Chloë Grace Moretz's other work, most notably her portrayal of Abby in Let Me In. But in this movie she was just blah. She was too quiet and/or timid in parts that required more of a punch, and she was too emotional in moments that didn't need it. She was unconvincing as the Mia Hall I was expecting. To me, Mia always seemed confident in herself, while also knowing that cello wasn't the coolest of instruments to play, especially since her parents are punk rockers. Even still, she was confident and witty, but in the movie she comes off as self-conscious and reserved. I'm not sure if it is Moretz's acting abilities that I'm questioning or if it is the directors directing, either way this was not Mia Hall. Also, can I just mention the shitty CGI effects of placing Chloë Grace Moretz's head on some real cello players body. I would have been satisfied with the typical up-close shots of hands playing the instrument and/or shots from behind as in other movies that have actors who can't actually play the instrument the character does, but CGI-ing her head in just cheapened these intense moments. UGH!

I was appreciative of Mireille Enos' portrayal of Mia's mother, Kat. When I saw the previews for the movie, I thought "she is the perfect choice for Mia's mom". Kat is comforting and motherly while also being a total badass and Mireille portrayed that seamlessly. Joshua Leonard was also good as Denny, Mia's father.Not exceptional or award-worthy but he got the job done. Jamie Blackley as Adam wasn't bad but he wasn't believable. I mean the guy is 25, and we're supposed to believe he's a highschooler? Yeah, right!

This movie is trying to hard to be overly sentimental and poignant and ended up feeling too forced. I never felt connected to Mia or any of the other characters for that matter. It's lengthy as well, for no reason because it just seemed to drag and about half way through I didn't care if Mia woke up or not (although I already knew because I read the book), I just wanted the movie to end already! Like I mentioned before, nothing was really lost from the book and yet the emotional impact simply wasn't there anymore. It was somehow lost in translation. Don't get me wrong, though, I did cry quite often throughout the movie but I think that is mostly because I was reminded of the despair I felt while reading the book, not necessarily because the movie moved me to tears. Would I watch this again? Most definitely not!