If I Stay - 29th September 2015

Tuesday Night is Film Night rounds off September with a film from 2014. This week it's a romantic drama, with a touch of music, as we watch;

If I Stay

Starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Mia Hall and Jamie Blackley as her boyfriend Adam, If I Stay is a romantic drama, with it's basis firmly grounded in music. Mia is from a musical family, her dad; Denny  (Joshua Leonard) was a drummer in an up and coming band, her mum; Kim (Liana Liberato) was a bit of a groupie. However, their offspring decided at an early age that the cello was going to be her instrument of choice and she becomes a proficient player destined for great things. Adam is slightly older than Mia and is in a band, but music brings them together. Adam is keen to pursue his blossoming music career, as is Mia and she applies to Julliard to further her musical education and is awaiting the results of her audition. All is going along so well, until as Mia puts it; 

"Isn't it amazing how life is one thing and then, in an instant it becomes something else. Like here I am, Mia, the girl who thinks about the cello and Adam, and whether I get a stupid letter or not, and just like that..."

Just like that everything is turned up side down. Mia, hey younger brother Teddy, mum and dad are involved in a car accident and Mia "awakes" to find herself following her own life via an out of body experience. The film thus progresses, switching between the current storyline and then drifting back to previous scenes where the current emotions are retold via the flashbacks.

As a story, If I Stay is really quite good. We like the thoughtful way the tragedy is played out, how close it is to the novel of the same name by Gayle Forman, we don't know, having not read the book, but it may well be worthy of a read, as the screenplay for If I Stay was really quite moving.

At the end of the day If I Stay is a bit of a teen romance, geared to a younger audience, but the it pulls no punches with the tragedies, we won't say too much here, but if you get drawn into the story then prepare for some tears. We didn't necessarily think that the story was played out with enough gravitas to pull you in to the midst of the film, some of the scenes were a tad cheesey, but only slightly. This film could go either way, in the respect of whether you like it or not. That's not to detract from the quality of talents on screen,  Chloë Grace Moretz is particularly good to watch, but not in the cello scenes where the CGI lets the filmmakers down somewhat, as you could see the join! There's a great performance from Stacey Keach who plays Mia's grandfather.

All in all a good story, but geared to a younger audience, as witnessed by the higher scores from the younger end of the sofa. The acting was good, but some of the flashbacks could lose you if you didn't maintain concentration. Perhaps some jeopardy would help and a few more tears just to draw the audience closer, not bad, but not brilliant either.

TNiFN Rating 68%

IMDB Link