A Monster Calls is a stunning, heartbreaking tale

Movie Title:  A Monster Calls

Grade:   A-

Rating:  PG-13, 108 minutes

In a Nutshell:  This beautiful coming-of-age story is a painfully heartbreaking film about letting go of a loved one who is dying.  

My sister’s husband died young from cancer, leaving two children about the same age as the boy in this story.  My tears flowed for their story, as well as the one on the Big Screen.  Take tissues.

Based on the award-winning book by Patrick Ness, the movie deals with aching subjects like grief, bullying, fear, healing, and death.    

With an old, wise tree at the center of the story, this visually stunning film has both gritty bark and emotionally powerful sap.  “How does this story begin? It begins like all stories…with a kid too old to be a boy and too young to be a man…and a nightmare.” – The Monster

Uplifting theme: 

• Life, death, cancer, fear, courage, truth, the monster in all of us
• “Life is always in the eyes.” – Mum (Felicity Jones)
• “You waste the precious time that is given you.” – The Monster (Liam Neeson)
• “It is not important only what you think.  It is important what you do.” – The Monster

Things I liked:

• Felicity Jones has been knocking out movies non-stop the past couple of years.  She always does a great job.
• Lewis MacDougall gives a very strong performance and has a bright future.  He began his acting career in Edinburgh, taking classes on Saturday mornings for fun.  He quickly landed a role in Hugh Jackman’s Pan and has been walking the red carpet with Hollywood greats ever since.
• Who doesn’t love Liam Neeson?  He has a particular set of skills that allow him to voice the monster with the perfect combination of scary gruffness and kind warmth. Did you notice the picture of Liam Neeson on the wall as the grandfather of the little boy at the end of the movie?  Sweet.
• Spanish director J.A. Bayona does an excellent job weaving the illustrations from the book with the screenplay. The fantasy nature of the movie features watercolor animations to create a dream-like state when the Monster tells Conor stories, and adds a blend of pencil drawings to illustrate the boy’s thoughts.  There is a fantastic blurring between reality and fantasy.
• A lot of critics are comparing the tactile metaphors in this movie to the brilliant film Pan's Labyrinth.  The film is insightful and brutally honest.

Things I didn’t like:

• I like Sigourney Weaver.  I really do, but her British accent was HORRIBLE.  Why did she get cast in this movie?  It was so bad that I was annoyed and distracted every time she was in a scene.
• This isn’t a movie you’ll want to watch many times.  It’s emotionally exhausting and painfully sad.

Interesting lines:

• “Many things that are true feel like a cheat.” – The Monster (Liam Neeson)
• “There is not always a good guy, nor is there always a bad one.” – The Monster
• “If no one sees you, are you really there?” – The Monster
• “You were only wishing for an end of your pain.  It’s the most human wish there is.” – The Monster
• “What is a dream, Conor O'Malley, and who is it to say all others are not the dreams?” – The Monster
• “People don’t like what they don’t understand.” – Mum
• “You will tell me your nightmare.  That will be your truth.” – The Monster

Funny lines:

• “Whoa!” – Conor       “Whoa indeed.” – The Monster

Tips for parents:   

• While the movie features a young boy, this isn’t really a children’s “feel good” story.  I think it would be therapeutic to watch, however, for children going through a similar difficult situation so they don’t feel so alone.
• The tree monster is rather scary looking, yet he is also kind.  If you loved Guardians Of The Galaxy (I did!), I guess you could say he is a really intense I AM GROOT on steroids.

Miss You Already celebrates besties and BFF's

Movie Title:    Miss You Already

Grade:  B

Rating:  PG-13, 1 hour 52 minutes

In a Nutshell:    With such a title, you already know how this movie ends. 

It’s a sad journey that will make you laugh and cry, especially if you’ve ever watched someone you love fight the cancer battle. 

Sure, the script is designed to attack your tear ducts, but the target audience (women besties) won’t care.  While new ground isn’t uncovered in this film, it’s a BFF reminder to live with love.

Uplifting theme: 

• A true friend loves and forgives in good times and in bad.
• Life.  It’s precious.  Live it.
• Your loved ones are precious.  Love them every day the very best you can.

Things I liked:

• Toni Collette has lost weight and looks great.  She has come a long way from “Muriel’s Wedding.”  She gives a truly stellar performance.
• Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette have great chemistry together.
• It’s a fairly accurate representation of the emotional and physical ups and downs of going through cancer.
• You get to see some beautiful landscapes of England.
• The baby birth scene was hilarious and beautiful.
• I didn’t recognize Jaqueline Bisset at first as a blonde.  She’s beautiful in any hair color.

Things I didn’t like:

• Milly and Jess had their first kiss at the same time with the same boy. Gross.
• There is a lot of drunk singing, bad behavior, and emotional manipulation of the audience.
• It takes some people longer to grow up and overcome selfishness.

Funny lines:

•  “It’s too late for drugs.”  - Nurse who is helping Jess in the birthing room

“It’s never too late for drugs.” –  Jess

• “I should have called an Uber.” – Miranda
• “How could the tumor have gotten so big?” – Jess

“Because it’s aggressive, like you!” – Milly

• “That was after Milly ate…organic mushrooms.” - Jess

Interesting lines:

• “Try saying no to someone with cancer.” - Jess

Tips for parents:   

• This is a very slow-moving drama that won’t interest most kids.  The subject matter is serious and a wide range of adult behavior is displayed (drinking, adultery, partial nudity, drugs, cancer.)
• Millie has breast cancer, so you see X-rays of her chest, as well as everything else that goes with the topic (discussion, vomit, etc.)
• Some profanity, as well as British profanity  

The Fault in Our Stars has very few faults

Movie Title:  The Fault in Our Stars

PG-13, 2 hours 5 minutes

Grade:  A-

In a Nutshell:   I’m going to have to read this book.  The movie is based on the #1 bestselling novel by John Green and only whets your appetite with meaty nuggets of wisdom about life and love.  Get your tissues ready.  The movie starts with Hazel Grace, a teenager who battles every day with lung cancer: “I believe we have a choice in this world about how to tell sad stories.  One the one hand, you can sugar-coat it, the way they do in movies and romance novels for beautiful people to learn beautiful lessons, when nothing’s too messed up that can’t be fixed with an apology or a Peter Gabriel song.  I like that version as much as the next girl does, believe me.  It’s just not the truth.  This is the truth.  Sorry.”

Uplifting theme: 

• They say you can write your own eulogy.  How?  Write what you want to happen in your life and then live it.
• Death is unbearable, but so is living a life without love and less than what you are capable of.
• There is an honesty to the way people with incurable diseases live.  Unlike the rest of us who pretend that we can have as many days and nights as we want, those who stare death in the face every day truly understand the value of time.
• The movie isn’t so much about dying, but living in the face of death and after a loved one dies.

Things I liked:

• As an author myself, I loved the part of the story that features Hazel Grace’s relationship with a writer of a book she is obsessed with.  I love the title of the book “Imperial Affliction” and the fact that the story ends in the middle of a sentence. Hazel says “It’s so truthful.  You just die.  You die in the middle of a sentence.”
• I loved Augustus’ cigarette metaphor: “They don’t kill you unless you light them, and I’ve never lit one.  It’s a metaphor.  See, you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.  A metaphor.”  Not that I would go so far as to buy cigarettes to put between my lips, but I love the feeling of empowerment and defiance that image evokes.
• I loved seeing the bridges in Amsterdam that Hazel and Gus sailed underneath.  It’s on my Bucket List.
• I thought it was cute that two of the couples in the movie have a word they lovingly repeated to each other like “always” or Hazel and Gus’ “OK.”  One word can say so much.
• I liked Hazel and Gus’ conversation about believing in something after this life.  Gus said he absolutely did…“Otherwise, what’s the point?”
• It’s always great to see Willem Dafoe in anything.
• There is warmth, humor, and honesty in the story-telling.  Cancer weepies can often be too contrived and manipulative, but there is enough snark and wisdom in this film to pull it off.

Things I didn’t like:

• Only in Chick Flicks do teenage boys fall all over themselves to win a girl’s affection.  Guys: take note…it works every time.
• The music tends to cue you on when to cry, but you do it anyway.
• Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I really hate watching pre-marital sex scenes.  I also hate it when people make fun of well-intentioned Christians, like Hazel and Gus do in their cancer therapy session when their group leader starts singing to give them hope.

Did you know?

• The imaginative playground with the skeleton where Hazel and Gus have a picnic is actually located on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is called “Funky Bones.”
• Dozens of web sites have been created by fans who want to continue talking about this book and movie.
• Sheilene Woodley (Hazel Grace) and Ansel Elgort (Augustus) did a fantastic job.  They played brother and sister in Divergent and have great chemistry together.  Sheilene admits they have more of a brother-sister relationship in real life…not romantic.  You can read my movie review about Divergent here.

Interesting lines:

• “That’s the thing about pain: it demands to be felt.”   - Augustus
• “I wouldn’t mind.  It would be my privilege to have my heart broken by you.”  - Augustus
• “I’m a grenade.  One day I’m going to explode and obliterate everything in my wake and I don’t know…It’s just my responsibility to minimize the casualties.”  - Hazel Grace
• “Everything’s coming up Waters.”  - Hazel Grace
• “You two are so adorable.”  - Mom

“We’re just friends.”  - Hazel Grace

 “Well, she is.  I’m not.” – Augustus

• The waiter in the beautiful Amsterdam restaurant asked Hazel Grace and Gus “Do you know what Don Perignon said after he invented champagne?”  “Come quickly!  I’m tasting the stars!”  The waiter then told them“We’ve bottled all the stars for you, my young friends.”
• “I want this Dragon Carrot Risotti to become a person so that I can take it to Vegas and marry it.”  - Gus
• “You’re American.”  - Van Houten’s assistant   

“Incurably so.”  - Author Peter  Van Houten

• “You gave me a forever within a numbered days and, for that, I am eternally grateful.”  - Hazel to Gus
• “If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.”  - sign that hangs on Gus’ wall at home.
• “Funerals are not for the dead.  They’re for the living.”  - Hazel Grace
• “You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have a say in who hurts you and I like my choices.”  - Gus
• “I fell in love the way you fall asleep…slowly, then all at once.”  - Hazel
• “Embrace your destiny and leave your mark on the world.”  - Augustus

Funny lines:

• “So yeah, that just happened.  I’ve been trying to tell you… I’m kinda awesome.”  - Augustus
• Hazel, Gus and Isaac egg a house and Hazel says “Guys, I think we should wait until it’s dark.”  Gus reminds her that Isaac is blind and says “It’s all dark to Isaac.” 
• Hazel asks Isaac, who just broke up with his girlfriend, “Do you want to talk about it?”  His honest reply: “No, I just want to cry and play video games.”

Tips for parents:  Pre-marital sex, groping, 1 F-bomb and some other profanity.  The movie creates some good opportunities to talk to your children about:

• Disabilities
• Terminal illness & lung diseases
• Anne Frank
• Amsterdam
• Death
• The Trolley Problem

The rest of the story: This love story has a sad, but romantic real-life ending.  Katie Prager died 5 days after her husband died due to complications from cystic fibrosis and a lung transplant.  She was only 26 years old.  To learn more about the real couple in this movie, watch this video clip from CNN:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/fault-in-our-stars-wife-dies-5-days-after-husband/vi-BBwv9Nu?ocid=spartanntp