Miss You Already (2015)
1:35 PM
Gone Girl
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Red Riding Hood) and starring Drew Barrymore (Donnie Darko, Scream) and Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine), Miss You Already seems to be one of the top contenders for the biggest tear-jerker. "The friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill". Can Miss You Already be a smaller film that makes a big impression or will it be a small film that makes no impression?
I wasn't actually interested in seeing this film until I saw the trailer which made it seem like a generally fun time - however, don't be misled as Miss You Already isn't the fun 'last adventure' that the trailer makes it out to be - right from the get go, you are witnessing emotional and sad scenes so don't expect this to be a 'The Fault in Our Stars' that has plenty of happy times because it gets sad - Miss You Already is just one dark cloud. The trailer also made it seem like the relationship between the two characters was built up quite well - it wasn't which is a big flaw in this film. Miss You Already is forgettable and I actually question why it was made.
There is nothing different about this 'illness drama' - the story follows the same formula and ultimately has the same ending. I found the film way too long - I lost connection with the characters, didn't really believe their relationship that much and I just knew where the story was going - its like a long car ride- you just want to get there. I did like how the story showed a contrast between two very close characters - one was experiencing a very positive event and the other negative. It was nice to see how the characters handled the situations. The film also had a little bit of humour but could have done with a lot more.
The camerawork and editing of this film felt very amateur - suddenly in the middle of a scene, the camera would be a little closer to a face and there are so many annoying little things like this that made the film lose its right to be on the big screen and possibly even the small screen. The film didn't really do much different in terms of cinematography and it really could have made the most of the London views and sights but it lazily didn't. There were some interesting features like when Milly in a way 'relives' her past towards the end of the film - however, other than this - the movie was very formulaic in both its story and its technical aspects.
The acting for the film isn't something that any of the talent in this should put on their resume. I thought Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette had sparks of good performances but the most I can say about them is that they were 'solid' - they didn't have any major problems but I feel a better job could have been done. Barrymore played the only character that was consistently likeable. I thought the chemistry between the two was ok but like I said, a little more development could have been made on their friendship which would have helped the actresses out as even though they had chemistry, it wasn't that believable. I thought Toni Collette generally had a very bumpy ride in terms of her performance - sometimes she was very good but sometimes she wasn't good at all. The rest of the cast were awful - I'm talking amateur boyfriends, child actors, random people getting their big break - it was just terrible. The budget for this film was obviously tight as they couldn't afford to build on their B List leads with other B List talent, instead we got U list talent. The worst person in the film had to be the man who played Milly's chemo doctor - he was terrible. However, coming in a close second was Paddy Considine who was terrible until the last 10 minutes.
So how emotional is this film? I didn't really feel any emotional until the very last lines - even though there is an elephant in the room throughout the whole film - I think it wasn't made very clear. Ok, it is nice that it portrays that you can still be you no matter what but this type of film is known to be emotional throughout - I just didn't feel that even when Milly was told bad news. I did get a tear in my eye at the very end of the film when Barrymore says 'I can never replace her' - this actually got me and made me quite empathetic.
I also don't understand why this film was made - as far as I'm concerned it was pointless and added nothing new to the sub-genre.
Miss You Already doesn't get good until the last act and before you get there you've been put through terrible performances, amateur directing, poor cinematography and a lack of emotion. Miss You Already does have its moments (like Barrymore and Collette) but it is generally a film that I won't be talking about in months to come and I won't miss it. Miss You Never.
2 STARS
C-
What did you think of MISS YOU ALREADY? What film has made you the most emotional so far this year? - COMMENT BELOW
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