My Life Without Me (DVD Review)

the other flick was one I missed in the cinemas earlier this year. I avoided it as I thought it would be a typical movie-of-the-week with mawkish sentimentality. it instead, goes in almost the opposite direction. a young mother of two who lives in a caravan next to her mother discovers she has tumours in her ovaries and it is spreading. she decides not to tell anyone, and instead makes tapes for her daughters, husband and mother explaining her reasons for not telling them and how she feels. she does a list of the things she wants to do before she dies. one of these is to have an affair with one of my favorite actors, Mark Rufalo (and no, I don't wanna have an affair with him). the lead is Sarah Polley, who is just wonderful (trivia: she was the young lead in Baron Munchausen). this film is a slow-burner. it is quite clearly canadian (how is it that you can always tell if something is canadian? do they only have one type of film stock up there?). what starts out as a tv movie of the week, slowly builds through the scenes of the young woman recording messages to her loved ones. the scenes with the children are beautiful and believable (not sacharine US style) and it builds to an inexorable yet touching climax. Recommended.
Extras are ok. I only flicked through the Rufalo and Polley interviews which were mildly interesting.
PS. Another trivia note is that there are two Pulp Fiction actors in it (Maria de Mederios and Amanda Plummer).
I've going to be getting hold of some hardish to find titles in the next few weeks including The Beguiled, Criterion Dead Ringers, The Player and Ride With The Devil. back soon with a Sydney review...