This film was actually pretty good. I half expected to bawl my eyes out (like I sometimes do at Lifetime movies) but I didn't. It was pretty sad, but I came from the film with more questions than feelings.
The movie is about two families that have known each other for practically forever. The son, Chris (played by the ultra-cute and talented Eric Lively) of one family and the daughter, Emily of the other grow up together and eventually fall in love. For whatever strange reason (I shall not say b/c I do not wish to spoil the movie for anyone) they make a suicide pact. She kills herself, but he lives. The movie then follows his subsequent trial for murder (ooh, the plot thickens) and how these events shake up the relationships of both families.
The movie luckily isn't some preachy afterschool special about teenage suicide. You can feel the pain Chris goes through and the love he had for Emily. The strain between the families is evident. More so between the two mothers (played by Megan Mullally and Juliet Stevenson) as their friendship deteriorates throughout the film. However, I wish they had not made Chris such a creepy character. His motives aren't clear in the beginning and it feels like that in the last 45 minutes of the movie they are trying too hard to rush the sensitivity of his character. They make Megan Mullally out to be the vindictive mother wanting someone, anyone to pay for her daughter's death. And lastly, it is not understood why Emily was so depressed to begin with. Perhaps we are not meant to understand, but it got a bit tedious and confusing after a while. All in all, this was a pretty good movie for Lifetime. 7 stars out of 10. I'm definitely going to have to read the book now.
The movie is about two families that have known each other for practically forever. The son, Chris (played by the ultra-cute and talented Eric Lively) of one family and the daughter, Emily of the other grow up together and eventually fall in love. For whatever strange reason (I shall not say b/c I do not wish to spoil the movie for anyone) they make a suicide pact. She kills herself, but he lives. The movie then follows his subsequent trial for murder (ooh, the plot thickens) and how these events shake up the relationships of both families.
The movie luckily isn't some preachy afterschool special about teenage suicide. You can feel the pain Chris goes through and the love he had for Emily. The strain between the families is evident. More so between the two mothers (played by Megan Mullally and Juliet Stevenson) as their friendship deteriorates throughout the film. However, I wish they had not made Chris such a creepy character. His motives aren't clear in the beginning and it feels like that in the last 45 minutes of the movie they are trying too hard to rush the sensitivity of his character. They make Megan Mullally out to be the vindictive mother wanting someone, anyone to pay for her daughter's death. And lastly, it is not understood why Emily was so depressed to begin with. Perhaps we are not meant to understand, but it got a bit tedious and confusing after a while. All in all, this was a pretty good movie for Lifetime. 7 stars out of 10. I'm definitely going to have to read the book now.