Synopsis
Estranged from his family, Jonathan (Hedlund) discovers his father has decided to take himself off life support in forty-eight hours’ time. During this intensely condensed period, a lifetime of drama plays out. Robert (Jenkins) fights a zero sum game to reclaim all that his illness stole from his family. A debate rages on patients’ rights and what it truly means to be free. Jonathan reconciles with his father, reconnects with his mother (Archer), sister (Brown-Findlay), and his love (Adams) and reclaims his voice through two unlikely catalysts – a young, wise-beyond-her-years patient (Barden) and a no-nonsense nurse (Hudson). Through this intensely life affirming prism, an unexpected and powerful journey of love, laughter, and forgiveness unfolds.
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Cast
- Garrett HedlundJonathan
- Richard JenkinsRobert
- Jessica Brown FindlayKaren
- Anne ArcherRachel
- Jessica BardenMeredith
- Terrence HowardDr. Crier
- Jennifer HudsonNurse Carrie
- Amy AdamsEmily
- Philip HoffmanUncle Percy
- Sterling JerinsYoung Karen
Recommendations
- 63
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
This terminal illness tale rises above the form, mainly thanks to a stellar cast and a refusal to drift into maudlin, a film that saves its big emotions for a wrenching finale that it earns. - 63
Observer
Despite the work of a first-rate cast, it doesn’t feel real to me. - 50
Slant Magazine
Garrett Hedlund's performance throbs with an anguish that's far more honest than the sentimental euthanasia subplot at the center of the film. - 50
New York Post
Writer/director Andrew Levitas needlessly pads this captivating theme with over-used tropes. - 42
Entertainment Weekly
A raft of fine actors – including Amy Adams, Richard Jenkins, and Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay – are wasted in a sour, callow family drama that mistakes constant yelling for emotional tension and fortune-cookie aphorisms for wisdom. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
This feature debut deals mainly in clichés, never transforming the tough question at its center into compelling cinema. - 40
Variety
Much of the early action, with Jonathan telling off his father, feels awkwardly staged, even tortured, a quality exacerbated by Levitas’ weakness with dialogue. - 40
New York Daily News
Sadly, Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard are wasted in tiny parts, as is Amy Adams as the lost love of the sulky rocker.
