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"My Life Without Me" starring Sarah Polley...Anyone seen it?

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"My Life Without Me" starring Sarah Polley...Anyone seen it?

Old 06-17-04, 04:34 PM
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"My Life Without Me" starring Sarah Polley...Anyone seen it?

"My Life Without Me" with Sarah Polley is a wonderfully acted film. Polley plays Ann, a 23 year old mother of 2, who lives in a trailer behind her mothers house with her husband and kids.

Ann learns that she has a terminal illness...2 months to live. She tells nobody. Not her family, her husband, kids, not anybody. She makes a list of things to do before she dies.
1. Smoke and drink as much as I want
2. Tell my kids I love them several times a day.
3. Sleep with another man, just to see what it is like (she married the first man she ever kissed and got pregnant at 17).
4. Always say what I am thinking
5. Don't tell anyone I'm sick
6. Record birthday messages for my daughters for every birthday up until they are 18.
7. Find a new wife for Don (she decides that she'll find a new woman and introduce her to her husband. She wants to know who is gonna be raising her kids, makes sense, right? I thought that was kinda clever)


Anyway, I read a few reviews that said "How dare Ann act so foolishly! She should have told her family! Then she could have some support!"

Well, that would have been the cliche story. You never know how you will react to something until it actually happens. Sarah Polley learns that she's gonna die. Could she have told everyone and garnered lots of support from her family? Sure. But she didn't. Instead she starts living a secret life that she's never experienced. She says "I've been sleeping my whole life, and I just now woke up."
Old 06-17-04, 04:56 PM
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Saw this film at the Vancouver Film Festival and even met Sarah Polley herself (quite attractive!!).

Anyways, I liked the film but a female friend I went with loved it much more.

I guess the problem I had was:
Spoiler:
the affair she had with another guy, which I thought was quite selfish and unfair to her husband. It's not as if her husband was a jerk, but on the contrary was a very supportive and loving partner.


But my friend gave a simple reason which explained everything...she wanted to try out everything before she leaves.
Old 06-17-04, 05:14 PM
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I think Sarah Polley is great. Anyway, yeah, I agree with you on your point, and with your friend. I guess I like that, that it's something that maybe even Ann might have seen as a selfish act before she was sick, but once she realized she was no longer going to be on this earth, she realized 'Hey, I gotta try that while I still have time!".
Old 06-17-04, 08:13 PM
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Yup, watched it a few months back. Very moving, yet so depressing. I'm just drawn to these kinda films all the time. Great performance by Sarah Polley. I don't think she's selfish at all. In fact she has a bigger heart than all the characters in similar situation. To choose between having the people you love mourn for you even before you die seems like a very selfish act to me.

Support? What support? To have everybody feel sorry for you equals support? That's just to typical of people.

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