Well, I feel like a crazy person but I thought If I Stay was kind of ok. It was fine - it was above adequate and for a YA romance film, that’s saying something.
Based on the YA novel If I Stay by Gayle Forman; 17 year-old Mia Hall (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a gifted musician - cellist with a bright future ahead of her at Juilliard and an adoring boyfriend Adam Wilde (Jamie Blackley). But when an unexpected tragedy occurs, everything changes for Mia in the blink of an eye as she finds herself caught between life and death.
Over one fateful day, Mia must make a final heart-wrenching decision that will determine her future: let go and move on to whatever comes next... or stay with the love of her life.
None of this is particularly profound stuff, but all the same, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I was more intrigued with how Mia was going to get out this, what decision she would ultimately make and the out of body experience that created from the accident. Mia has so much going for her, but she's also been through an incredibly traumatic experience and has lost a lot of people that she loves. The whole crux of the film is will Mia choose to keep on living or not. In any other film, I might've scoffed and zoned out but with If I Stay, I surprisingly cared.
In a sort of teen oriented, Just Like Heaven, Mia is in a coma and having an out of body experience. But unlike Reese Witherspoon's Elizabeth Masterson, she's invisible to everyone including her boyfriend. You get the strong sense that she's on the outside looking in
To my slim knowledge of the book which I must confess I haven't read, the movie sticks to it pretty well
The coming of age themes of choices, love, life and death and the battle between fate and free will are sure to resonate strongly with its intended audience.
Directed by documentary filmmaker R.J. Cutler, If I Stay certainly has a lot of style on display including a rotating that follows force ghost Mia as she surveys the fateful car accident.
The film also boasts a surprisingly catchy soundtrack containing the works of The Orwells, Beck & Tanlines, even a few
It knows what its target audience is and I imagine they will be pleased.
Chloë Moretz does compelling work in role of Mia Hall, she possesses the charisma and Despite sitting around the ICU, listening in on conversations, the choice is hers and hers alone. She is the only classical musician in a family of rockers. Given her previous roles (or is it lives?) as a superhero, a vampire, a werewolf and more recently a psychic, you'd think that Mia would be use to this crazy, supernatural stuff by now, but ah well. Mia is dedicated, brilliant, passionate & driven, but she also loves her family and friends and treasures all the good times that they share together as we clearly see through the flashbacks. If she does choose to keep on living then she's going to need a lot of time to grieve and a lot of physical therapy to recover from her wounds sustained in the accident. Jamie Blackley's Adam Wilde actually subverts his YA male lead archetype in some pretty interesting ways. He's handsome and a talented musician but he isn't brooding or mysterious and it's easy to see why Mia likes him. I mean, he seems nice, they have things in common - they bond over a shared passion, they can hold a conversation unlike many other couples in YA adaptations of recent years and he's not possessive or unstable. Adam really represents everything that classical music isn't being the lead singer of his band Willamette Stone.
Mia and Adam bond over their shared love of music. It's their one love and when you share exactly the same love for something and the ambition and true drive for something that's very special. Mia has lived a life of a regimen since she was a little girl and first discovered the cello
Lauren Lee Smith & Liana Liberato also do solid work in of Willow & Kim, Mia's friends. Kim is sassy, witty & loyal to Mia. Before Adam comes into her life, Mia & Kim do everything together; they saw each other every day, they went to the movies, they practically grew up together. They're almost connected together by an invisible string: they know what they're going to say before they even say it. She's incredibly dedicated and sticks up for Mia until the end.
Mireille Enos & Joshua Leonard also do great work playing Mia's parents. In a genre where almost it's so refreshing to see a family that loves and supports each other and encourages their children to pursue their passion. Her dad even quit his band to raise both Mia and her little brother Teddy.
Even the great Stacey Keach has a few moments to shine as Mia's grandfather, George. He's only in a couple of scenes but Keach brings enough warmth and fondness to make them count.
3/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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