Somewhere buried in this film is a story worth telling. Unfortunately it cannot fight its way through the unfortunate directing efforts. Samantha Morton, as Annie Parker, demonstrates formidable acting skills and deserves, on the basis of this production alone, to receive wider acclaim and challenging roles.
Annie Parker's story is both appealing and important, an engaging tale of a woman with humour and determination, prepared to take on the world and the medical establishment to prove her point that cancer can be and often is the product of a genetic flaw. It changed not only the medical profession's view of the disease, but altered our own, and she fills the role of a hero (heroine) in making her case. Helen Hunt, as the scientist who confirm's Parker's suspicions, is more than adequate, but this is Samantha Morton's vehicle.
All well and good, but stories need to be told well to make an impact, and in movies this falls on the shoulders of the director, former cameraman Steve Bernstein. Bernstein may know how to handle apertures but he sure can't handle actors - not when it comes to telling a story without employing a car load of clichés, both visual and literary (he and his con collaborated on a screenplay - one more example of why the chore of writing and directing should be separated.)
In the hands of a Sarah Polley or someone with her insight and sensitivity, this could have been a wonderful moving and educational tale. In Bernstein's hands it's more like a high-priced episode of As The World Turns (the star is for Ms Morton's work).
Annie Parker's story is both appealing and important, an engaging tale of a woman with humour and determination, prepared to take on the world and the medical establishment to prove her point that cancer can be and often is the product of a genetic flaw. It changed not only the medical profession's view of the disease, but altered our own, and she fills the role of a hero (heroine) in making her case. Helen Hunt, as the scientist who confirm's Parker's suspicions, is more than adequate, but this is Samantha Morton's vehicle.
All well and good, but stories need to be told well to make an impact, and in movies this falls on the shoulders of the director, former cameraman Steve Bernstein. Bernstein may know how to handle apertures but he sure can't handle actors - not when it comes to telling a story without employing a car load of clichés, both visual and literary (he and his con collaborated on a screenplay - one more example of why the chore of writing and directing should be separated.)
In the hands of a Sarah Polley or someone with her insight and sensitivity, this could have been a wonderful moving and educational tale. In Bernstein's hands it's more like a high-priced episode of As The World Turns (the star is for Ms Morton's work).