Life Without Me

A tearjerker with some odd and sometimes affecting flourishes, 'My Life Without Me' stars the very impressive Sarah Polley ('The Sweet Hereafter'). She's Ann, the 23-year-old mother of two kids, who discovers that she's terminally ill with cancer and only has a couple of months to live. Making the faithful decision not to tell anyone, including her loving husband Jon (Speedman), she deigns to fulfil a list of wishes in an effort to make her last few weeks of healthy living happy.

Strange in that it feels rather committed in terms of emotional truth, even if it hasn't any idea of the physical realities of the conditions it recounts, 'My Life Without Me' manages to infuriate as much as it enchants. As sentimental as anything Spielberg has directed, 'My Life Without Me' manages to get away with it, due to

Coixet's decision to anchor everything in a sea of urban decay that doesn't feel forced. Polley is a wonderfully subtle actress but one feels that she may have been better served by a script (penned by Coixet) which has at least some interest in engaging with reality. Subtle and fragile, Polley has a rare presence and the movie is all hers and this determined to mirror her performance in an oasis of forced tranquillity very nearly steadies the film. Nearly, but not quite.