It is so dissapointing that one of the best books I have ever read was adapted into such a bad film that totally lost the plot.
The movie is about Sam & Jules. Sam loves to dance, but Jules lives to dance. Jules is planning on going to Juilliard, and Sam is planning on tagging along, simply because she and Jules have been inseparable since they were six years old. But Jules's dreams come to a grinding halt when she is diagnosed with cancer. Jules & Sam's relationship is put to the test and things will never be the same again.
Shiri Appleby was pretty ordinary and forgettable in this film. But, in her defence, if the movie had been based more closely on the book, her character would have been alot meatier and she probably could have done alot more with herself. Larisa Oleynik could have made her role really great. She could have tugged the audience's heart strings from beginning to end, but she didnt. Once again, in her defence, the film didnt concentrate enough on the emotional side of Jules's cancer, instead they stuffed it with way too many dance routines that just ended up being boring and hogging too much of the screen time. I know this film is about a girl who just wants to dance, but really, they were great steps, dont get me wrong, but too much of a good thing can be bad and boring. They should have concentrated alot more on the emotional and made sure there wasnt a dry eye by the end. Its strange that they didnt give Peter Coyote, a pretty darn good actor by my standards, more screen time. he had only two minor scenes with little dialogue and hardly any room for emotional response. There is one scene in which Jules tells her parents she wants to stop chemo, and he shows signs of potential, but then they leave it at that.
With all due respect, the book was much better.
