Mike Phillips

Great story with a sub par movie. Wooden acting, poor production value, cliche characters and lacking good direction which is a shame because this could have been a far better film. The actors themselves were okay but the disjointed herky jerky plot lines are clunky rather than seamless. The plot lines get lost in an over abundance of detail on minutiae while ignoring the heart of the story. Some of the plot is patently unrealistic especially when dealing with the medical aspects of the story. The dialogue gets in the way of good storytelling and settles for clumsy poorly written lines. The relationships between the central characters is a rushed, sloppy mess. I wanted to like this film but it’s message is lost in the lack of pathos between the central characters that could have driven this film to a far more human and emotive conclusion given the fact that it’s a true story... sort of. The relationships in this film, virtually all of them, are hurried and miss the heart of this story. All of which is to say in more skilled hands this story would have, could have and frankly should have been better. As it is it does no justice to the real heroes and pain of tragedy in a mawkish attempt at sentiment. This still could be a great film, but not with this director. 2 stars for a good story lost in a poor film.