Who Plays Who?

Abigail Breslin Cameron Diaz Jason Patric Evan Ellingson Sofia Vassilieva Thomas Dekker Heather Wahlquist Alec Baldwin Joan Cusack Walter Raney Nicole Marie Lenz Brennan Bailey Olivia Hancock Jeffrey Markle

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Andromeda 'Anna' Fitzgerald Sara Fitzgerald Brian Fitzgerald Jesse Fitzgerald Kate Fitzgerald Taylor Ambrose Aunt Kelly Campbell Alexander Judge De Salvo Pawn Shop Proprietor Gloria Jesse Fitzgerald (Age 10 Kate (Age 2) Dr Wayne

What Do The Critics Say

"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. That performance does not come from headliners Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin or Alec Baldwin, although they are all very fine. It comes from Sofia Vassilieva, a co-star on TV's "Medium"; and the wonder is that it manages to be both breathtaking and well-centered, avoiding showboating while still delivering maximum emotional impact." Tom Long DETROIT NEWS "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." Prairie Miller NEWSBLAZE "Humanizes vexing questions about medical ethics without sacrificing rattling family drama." Lisa Kennedy DENVER POST "My Sister’s Keeper is a rare tearjerker where the viewer doesn’t feel jerked around (most of the time)." Mark Keizer BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE "Jodi Picoult’s novel makes a high-class tear-jerker thanks to an intelligent script by Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes, tasteful direction by Cassavetes himself, and strong performances from a pedigreed cast. Diaz is a standout; she has often seemed like an amiable amateur when teamed with real actors (in The Holiday, for example), but here she rises to the challenge as never before, with a textured portrayal of a not entirely sympathetic character." Jim Lane SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW

"Performances are first-rate. Playing the very first parental role of her career, Cameron Diaz slides with ease into the part. A motion picture of notable sensitivity and beauty, hamstrung emotions kept to a minimum. Tough, touchy, provocative, and exceptionally moving. The concluding passages of "My Sister's Keeper" are sobering and uncompromising, but not without hope, and director Nick Cassavetes does a nice job of balancing the film's tricky tone." Dustin Putman THE MOVIE BOY "Tears will be shed as the promised courtroom drama is displaced by other developments: Joan Cusack almost steals the pic as the lachrymose judge who has lost a young daughter herself. I could have lived without the "Tiny Bubbles" song, but for once the schmaltz is not inappropriate. Verdict 4/5." Victor Olliver TELETEXT "I found the movie to be really tough and challenging and enjoyable." Ben Lyons AT THE MOVIES "The performances are first-rate, with special commendation to Vassilieva in a breakout performance as a teen striving for normalcy in spite of her cancer." Sean Means SALT LAKE TRIBUNE "Sometimes, a sad story isn't just a manipulative venture that makes you cry. Sometimes, as in "The Notebook", it's a tale well told that brings out honest emotions. Sometimes, it's in a movie such as "My Sister's Keeper" This is a delicately told story about dying, a subject that so many movies are loathe to embrace. I applaud its courage." Linda Cook QUAD CITY TIMES

The Inside Story When Sara Fitzgerald gave birth to Kate, she and her husband Brian rejoiced over their new baby girl. Joy turns into fear when their beloved two year old child is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Kate’s health became the fulcrum of the family, which grew with the birth of her sister Anna. But Anna wasn’t just another welcome addition. She was a necessity, conceived as a perfect genetic match, specifically designed to save Kate’s life. Cameron Diaz, who stars as Sara, relates, "When I first read the script, it was just one of those stories that haunted me. I connected with Sara, but I didn’t always agree with her, and that interested me." But Anna, all of eleven years old, says, for the first time, "What about me?" And, for the first time, she refuses to give up a part of herself for her sister Kate. Instead, she decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna’s decision will have profound and dire consequences. "Anna knows that her parents are going to be mad at her, that everyone is going to think she’s selfish and mean," says young actress Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), who plays Anna. "But there is more to her decision; she has her reasons." "My Sister’s Keeper" is based on the provocative novel of the same name by Jodi Picoult ("Handle With Care"). By the time it attracted the attention of filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, it was already the author’s best-selling work and a beloved topic of discussion and debate in book clubs worldwide. In films as disparate as "John Q", "Alpha Dog" and "The Notebook", 2004 Emmy Award winner Cassavetes has investigated the nuances of the human condition, the nature of love and free will and human dignity: all themes that resonate in Picoult's book. "When I read the novel, I was very moved," Cassavetes ("Alpha Dog") notes. "I started thinking about the movie as a simple story about how a family could deal with facing the death of a child." His immediate thought was: "This is a story I’d like to tell." Oscar ® winning producer Mark Johnson ("Rain Man") adds that, in addition to the book’s compelling themes and characters, the structure lent itself well to film. "At its core, the book is about family and that really speaks to so many readers. Jodi taps into issues and situations to which we all connect and makes us wonder how we might react. What she also does very cleverly in the book; and hopefully we do in the film, is tell the story through multiple narrators, so you get the sense of the entire family speaking. It’s incredibly rich material for a filmmaker: an intimate family drama with huge implications, which is something that Nick really gravitates toward and understands," Johnson ("Good Morning, Vietnam" & "Shooter") notes. Although several of Picoult’s books have been adapted for television, "My Sister’s Keeper" marks the first time her work will be brought to the big screen. "I’ve always believed that this story could work on screen, but I was especially excited when I learned it would be a feature film," the author revealed. "Then to have the cast and the director they assembled, that is truly remarkable." To adapt the work from book to screenplay, the filmmakers knew it was important to find a screenwriter who appreciated and respected the novel’s themes and gradations, in addition to character and plot. "My Sister’s Keeper" reunites writer/director Cassavetes with screenwriter Jeremy Leven, with whom he previously collaborated with great success on "The Notebook". "I suppose that my medical training gave me some added understanding. I really felt it was important to be sensitive to what this family was dealing with," Leven attests. Johnson believed that the Cassavetes/Leven combination was right for the project. Johnson ("Sniper") says he also admires Cassavetes way of working with actors. "I think the audience believes in the story, the characters and the situations because Nick has a way of making it feel real, that it is something that could happen. He takes a story that could potentially be overly sentimental, but doesn’t allow that to happen because he peoples it with very real and true performances." Cameron Diaz was cast in the pivotal role of the family matriarch, Sara Fitzgerald. "I wanted to understand her, who she was, how she became that way and why she makes the decisions she does," the four time Blockbuster Entertainment Award (1998, '99, 2000 & '01) said. "That exploration was very compelling to me and I thought it would be challenging to try to tell her story." "For me, this movie is serious on so many levels," notes Cassavetes who played Dietrich Hassler in "Face/Off", "and there are a finite number of actresses that you think of for this type of role. Each of them has an impressive body of work. But I really didn’t want to cast an actress who had done something similar for this film." Perhaps better-known for her comedic roles, it was Diaz’s dramatic performances that appealed to Johnson. "I’ve been a fan of Cameron for a long time and, frankly, her dramatic roles are among my favorites. I think what she did in "In Her Shoes" was remarkable; she was astonishing in "Being John Malkovich", in "Vanilla Sky": the list goes on. Cameron was our first choice for Sara." Johnson recalled remember when they first found out she was interested, they looked at each other and said, "Can you believe how lucky we are?" In preparing for the role, Diaz says she, "talked to parents who had sick kids and to their children, to try to understand what it would be like to be in this position. The truth is you can’t know what you’d do unless you’re in her situation; until you have a deathly ill child, there is no way to say to what lengths you would go to save that child. And I thought that was very interesting to examine, because we love to judge people, don’t we? But, with Sara, I found that impossible to do." Sara’s daughter Kate, is played by 2006 Young Artist Award winner Sofia Vassilieva (who played Ariel Dubois in 94 espisodes of TV'S "Medium" between 2005 & 2009). While her character lives with the specter of death throughout the film, the teenaged actress says it was the universal bonds of family presented in the script that attracted her to the part. "The beautiful, intricate relationship this family develops and the connections they form appealed to me," says Vassilieva ("Day Zero"). "Although not all families go through something as drastic as the Fitzgeralds do, the story of how one person can affect the entire family unit struck me as very real, touching and beautiful." The sixteen year old actress was particularly drawn to Kate’s spirit and her love of life. "There is a sort of purity to her that grabbed me; she is one of the most incredible characters I have come across so far." Kate’s counterpart and lifeline, Anna, is the catalyst for the sudden change in course the family goes through. "I really believed that the lynchpin of the film had to be Anna, that the honesty of her emotions were what was going to anchor the film," says author Jodi Picoult. Already an Oscar ® nominated actress ("Little Miss Sunshine" 2006), Abigail Breslin, who turned twelve during production, committed entirely to Anna, whose lawsuit against her parents is waged out of an abiding love for her sister and family. "I remember reading the script for the first time and saying to my mom, 'I have to be this girl.' I just loved it. I loved all the characters, I loved the family: it was something I had to do." Breslin initially worried that the mood on set might be sad and intense, but says this was not the case. "When I found out I got the role, I thought, there are parts of this that are so sad, everyone is going to be very serious about it all. But everyone was very nice and it was so much fun. Some of the scenes were sad but the set was not," the 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award winner recalls. She attributes this atmosphere to her director, who kept the mood light, the pace quick, and offered a supportive but firm approach. "Nick was always really fun and I felt like he was always there for me. You can talk to him about anything. And he’ll always listen to what you have to say about the movie or your role, or really anything that you want to talk about. He will always let you try out your ideas. He’s just really cool," she said. Picoult was particularly excited about the seasoned Breslin taking on the role of Anna. "Anna is the one who's the heart, and I honestly cannot think of another actress Abby’s age that I would've trusted as much with that role." Jason Patric was cast as Brian, Sara’s loving but increasingly frustrated husband. "Brian is really the one who is torn," the 2004 Bronze Wrangler Award winning Patric ("Geronimo: An American Legend") observes. "He and his wife have sort of a Solomon-type problem, choosing between the needs of the two girls, but he is more conflicted. His wife is dead-set on her course, but he thinks more about balancing the needs of both children." "I have made several movies with Jason and he is a strong dramatic actor who really immerses himself in his roles. Nick had been a big fan of his, too," Johnson notes. Evan Ellingson was cast as the Fitzgerald's eldest child, Jesse. The young actor, Diaz points out, really blossomed as Jesse, and the part became more and more pivotal over the course of shooting. "It was amazing to watch. He and Nick kept adding more to the role because Jesse was clearly so big a part of the Fitzgerald puzzle. Evan is a lovely soul and it was wonderful to watch this happen," Diaz ("Any Given Sunday") says. Coming to Anna’s legal aid is Campbell Alexander, the charismatic lawyer who takes Anna’s case. Two time Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock" 2007 & '09) stars in the role, and though much of his screen time takes place during the highly charged courtroom scenes, in between takes he often regaled his director and castmates with jokes and stories. Ironically, one of the movie’s main draws for Baldwin (hire or buy the DVD, "The Cooler") was that it was not a comedy. "Well, I’m doing a TV show that is a comedy, so the chance to do a tough, emotional drama was very attractive." Baldwin describes his character as "a larger than life attorney with billboards all over town, who has a very self-promoting quality. Interestingly enough, that’s all it takes for Anna to hire him: she says, 'You’re the guy on the bus'. More discerning people might not hire him, but eleven year old girls? He’s got that demographic." Picoult (a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in English and Creative Writing and, a Master's in Education degree from Harvard) recalls visiting the set when she had her twelve year old daughter Samantha with her. "At the time, his daughter was also twelve. And during the breaks, when he wasn't on camera, his entire modus operandi was to make my daughter giggle: anything he could do to make her laugh. And I loved that." Johnson agrees. "Alec makes me laugh, not just because he’s funny, but because he’s funny in such an original, unexpected, idiosyncratic way." Joan Cusack (Judge De Salvo); Thomas Dekker (Taylor); Heather Wahlquist (Aunt Kelly) and David Thornton (Dr Chance), round out the cast. ©2009 All Rights Reserved - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark laws applied. Synopsis

Sara and Brian Fitzgerald’s lives are changed forever when they learn that two year old Kate has leukemia. Her parents only hope is to conceive another child, specifically intended to save Kate’s life. For some, such genetic engineering would raise both moral and ethical questions; for the Fitzgeralds, Sara in particular, there is no choice but to do whatever it takes to keep Kate alive. And what it takes is Anna. Kate and Anna share a bond closer than most sisters: though Kate is older, she relies on her little sister. In fact, her life depends on Anna. Throughout their young lives, the sisters endure various medical procedures and hospital stays: just another part of their close-knit family’s otherwise normal life. Sara, a loving wife and mother who left her career as an attorney to care for her daughter, is sometimes lost inside the single-minded caregiver she has become in her efforts to save Kate. Her strong, supportive husband, Brian, is often rendered powerless and passive by his wife’s strength and determination. And their only son, Jesse drifts, at times all but forgotten as Kate and Anna take center stage. That is, until Anna, now eleven, says no.

The Verdict "I am sure that those who have read Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper" will question the film's ending. Author and mother of three (Kyle, Jake & Samantha) Picoult, says she's happy with the film and that fan's who have complaints, should direct them to Warner Bros. My take on the ending is that the film's dramatic enough as it is and that perhaps they screenwriter and the production team felt that it would be too heartwrenching for audiences to bear. Even without the books ending, "My Sister's Keeper" is an emotional journey and one that is guaranteed to evoke many emotional responses from it's audiences. The cast are superb. Everyone, from Diaz to Breslin, Dekker, Baldwin, 2000 Annie Award winner Cusack, Patric and Vassilieva produce excellent performances. Diaz will surprise many with her gritty, gutsy performance as Sara. 2001 American Society of Cinematographers Award winner Caleb Deschanel; husband of Mary Jo, father of Emily (Dr Temperance 'Bones' Brennan in "Bones") and Zooey ("Yes Man") is to be applauded for his outstanding imagery, which beautifully captures the emotional highs and lows that touch everyone associated with the Fitzgerald family. Interestingly, Mary Jo and her daughter Emily appear in the film. The former playing a Saleswoman while the latter plays Dr Farquad. One outstanding aspect of the film is that, unlike designer tear-jerkers, "My Sister's Keeper" is never manipulative, and that's something its audiences (despite the fact that many will be reaching for the tissues) are sure to appreciate. As for the soundtrack, well it's one that many will want to rush out and buy. The only disappointment is that "Tiny Bubbles" doesn't feature on the track list. Look for it on the Universal Music label. Easy to recommended. 4 STARS." The Production Team

Director Sreenplay From the novel by Produced Original Music Cinematography Film Editors Casting Production Designer Set Decoration Costume Designer

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Nick Cassavetes Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes Jodi Picoult Stephen Furst/Scott Goldman/Mark Johnson Chuck Pacheco/Mendel Tropper Aaron Zigman Caleb Deschanel Jim Flynn & Alan Heim Matthew Barry & Nancy Green-Keyes Jon Hutman Maggie Martin Shay Cunliffe

Run Time 109 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2009 - VRS - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2009 All Rights Reserved - Impact Internet Servoces & The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.