It's a contender for the Blandest Dialogue of the Year gong, the only surprises here are that it's not directed by Lasse Hallstrom and Grace-Moretz wobbles from engaging to, well, dead but If I Stay somehow remains solid throughout.
Mia Hall (Grace-Moretz) is a Portland teen who has had a different home life to most - while she spends hours getting a note perfect on her beloved cello, her punk rocker parents (Enos and Joshua Leonard) prefer Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper. They also encourage her to stay out all night with school heartthrob and rising guitar hero Adam (Blackley), who has asked her to a gig despite their musical differences. While waiting on a letter of acceptance/rejection from Julliard, Mia and her family are in a car crash and the now-disembodied teen wanders the hospital looking for the strength from loved ones to pull her out of her coma...
Adapted from Gayle Forman's novel by Shauna Cross, whose Whip It is an underrated gem, the episodic structure opted here can slow down events but the flashbacks are doing more than they first seem. Unable to interact with the 'living' (she's more Saoirse Ronan than Patrick Swayze), Mia's wanderings about the wards spark memories of the burgeoning romance which mirror what's going on with the unconscious Hall family. Will They/Won't They Get Together reflecting the Will They/Won't They Pull Through.
Grace-Moretz is a mixture of good and not so good. She lacks the requisite emotional punch during her 'afterlife' scenes - all she can muster during the post-crash scene is to mutter "No... no..." but she fares a whole lot better when asked to be coy and shy around the hunky Adam.
It does take a stab at the 'indie' market with its soundtrack. While sweating to name-drop as many 'hip' bands as the can - Iggy, Alice, The Shins, Riot Girrrl and the Dandy Warhols are wedged into the first two minutes - you can always judge a movie by its montage music: opting for an Elliot Smith sound-alike over a Paula Cole wannabe here should appease those who are precious about such things. That said, Blackley in a Sonic Youth t-shirt looks more like a fashion statement than a music one, like a model in an MC5/Ramones top: fake.
A wee bit twee but it'll fill a hole. By the way, what is it with the sick/dying/dead kids these days? My Sister's Keeper, The Lovely Bones, Now Is Good, The Fault In Our Stars, and now this?