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My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper (2009)

tomatometer

48

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 135
Fresh: 65 | Rotten: 70

My Sister's Keeper gets fine performances from its adult and child actors, but the director's heavy-handed approach turns a worthy emotional subject into an overly melodramatic tearjerker.

47

Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 17

My Sister's Keeper gets fine performances from its adult and child actors, but the director's heavy-handed approach turns a worthy emotional subject into an overly melodramatic tearjerker.

audience

73

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 352,029

My Rating

Movie Info

Director Nick Cassavetes collaborates with screenwriter Jeremy Leven (The Notebook) for this drama about a pair of parents who resort to unorthodox methods in order to save their young daughter's life, only to find their decision coming back to haunt them in a manner neither could have ever foreseen. Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric) are coasting through life with their young son and daughter when tragedy threatens to tear the family apart. Suddenly, their baby girl falls ill, and her

PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama

Jeremy Leven, Nick Cassavetes

Nov 17, 2009

$49.1M

Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

All Critics (136) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (73) | DVD (9)

Where restraint might have raised up My Sister's Keeper, a heavy hand has brought it down.

July 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I found the movie to be really tough and challenging and enjoyable.

June 29, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I have a heart. I just don't want schlock.

June 29, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

My Sister's Keeper targets tear ducts so ruthlessly, it might as well be sponsored by Kleenex.

June 26, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Post | Comment
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Uneven but deeply moving.

June 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | Comment
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A surprisingly lovely movie about an absolutely awful subject, My Sister's Keeper features what also may be the year's first performance worthy of Oscar mention.

June 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Tearjerker that aims for rarefied feelings as well as knee-jerk, sentimental moments.

August 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

On a second viewing, this became worse, and I began to resent the film for how gratuitous it became.

June 27, 2011 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

My Sister's Keeper is a committee-approved nerve-snapper that, much like its main character, has been genetically engineered to MAKE! YOU! CRY!

October 27, 2010 Full Review Source: Quickflix | Comment

Strong performances, and a subtle script make director Cassavetes film one of the better tearjerkers of the year...

December 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

The film has its flaws and swims in meticulously crafted schmaltz... yet also has well-conceived tender moments hiding in the fringes.

December 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com | Comment

My Sister's Keeper demands nothing less than a tidal wave of tears.

November 28, 2009 Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | Comment (1)
What Would Toto Watch?

...blatantly, shamelessly gushy and gooey, playing false at every move with every character. (Blu-ray Edition)

November 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

The film has a profound and compelling premise. Regrettably, it seems intent on being about everything but that premise.

November 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | Comment
Aisle Seat

I tried to keep an open mind, hoping something would win me over. It didn't happen.

November 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment (1)
Movie Metropolis

A gut-wrenching tearjerker with a decent chance of landing on this critic's annual 10 Best List.

November 12, 2009 Full Review Source: Sly Fox | Comment
Sly Fox

Remarkable in concept and utterly exquisite in its execution, this domestic drama at the deeply conflicted crossroads of family wounds and medical healing, would have baffled even Solomon as to the ultimate value of a child.

November 9, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
NewsBlaze

[I]ntelligent, moving and even occasionally funny, although you might want to bring along a few tissues just in case.

August 11, 2009 Full Review Source: New England Movies Weekly | Comment
New England Movies Weekly

Cassavetes...shows great skill in weaving bright moments -- even an adolescent romance -- into the gloom. It's still bittersweet, but like mass-produced crème caramel, never too bitter.

July 31, 2009 Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | Comment
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

[Cassavetes] refuses to let the material speak for itself, putting a famous-for-making-women-cry song behind almost every scene, and lingering on every sentimental moment.

July 31, 2009 Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | Comment
FILMINK (Australia)

Bring the tissues. This film works.

July 31, 2009 Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | Comment
The Age (Australia)

What starts as an exploration of the ethics of organ-donation and genetic selection, rapidly disintegrates into a sloppy, unstructured, tear-jerking mess.

July 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Screenwize | Comment (1)
Screenwize

There's no question that this is a really intriguing drama and a drama that I think deserved better treatment than it gets here because I think Nick Cassevetes -- I don't think he's a very good director, really.

July 29, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | Comment
At the Movies (Australia)

There is a touch of contrivance to the set-up that is not totally convincing and the film avoids much of the ethical arguments in favour of family drama. But I must admit to being affected.

July 29, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | Comment
At the Movies (Australia)

A morally ambiguous tearjerker with a twist.

July 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | Comment
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for My Sister's Keeper

A very poignant look at a family dealing with a 15 year old daughter going thru leukemia treatments, and the family problems it creates along the way. A very well written movie, with many lessons to be learned for everyone. Sofia Vassilieva was awesome as the leukemia stricken teenager who handles it valiantly. Tissues

September 14, 2010
itsjustme2004

Super Reviewer

A very depressind and sad movie, but good performances from Diaz and the kids, but other than that this movie is depressing and very forgettable, at least to me, maybe if I had experience with someone with cancer then i would have liked it better.

August 18, 2011
DreamExtractor
Brad Wright

Super Reviewer

    1. Jesse Fitzgerald: I tried to wake her up. I poked her and everything.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. Anna Fitzgerald: Most babies are accidents. Not me. I was engineered. Born to save my sister's life.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Beim Leben meiner Schwester (DE)
  • Ma vie pour la tienne (FR)
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