The young adult book turned drama film stars Chloë Grace Moretz as Mia, a young girl whose life is turned upside down by a tragic car accident. The film jumps around a bit, starting from the time leading up to her meeting Adam (Jamie Blackley), in the hospital after the car accident, and then back to the past, pre-accident. Although it’s an interesting way of filming, the editing didn’t help it any. When cutting to a different timeline, you would think otherwise and finally realize that they’ve gone back a few months.
Although, I’m not a big fan of this genre of film (romance), which this film really emphasizes on, the elements shown in the trailer caught my interest. Most of the film revolves around Mia’s time with Adam, who she meets at school after luring him with her cello skills (something like that). He, of course, is a rebellious teen who is the lead singer of a rock band. So we’ve got two completely different teenagers falling in love and Mia’s great set of parents, played by Mireille Enos (The Killing) and Joshua Leonard (True Detective), to save us from the awkwardness.
If you like cheese, then you’ll love most of this film. Some scenes are cringe-worthy and others are tolerable, but that’s young love (oh no, I’ve been infected!) What truly makes this film come alive is Mia’s relationship with her parents, who try their hardest, even though they’re punk rock while Mia is on the classical side.
After the car accident, we follow Mia around, who is stuck in the middle of life and death, walking around without anyone being able to see or hear her. This supernatural element really gave this film potential, however, it wasn’t its saving grace.
Now let’s talk Chloë Grace Moretz. I’ve been a huge fan of her work in Kick-Ass and Let Me In (especially the latter), which is why her performance in If I Stay was utterly disappointing. The emotional scenes, after her finding out about her parents’ deaths, heck, even after finding out that her younger brother, Teddy, had perished as well, lacked emotion. Her whole family died and she showed more emotion when Adam showed up. It was a bit uncomfortable to see such strong scenes be under-performed and feel temporary.
If you ask me if you should watch this film later today, I’d recommend Boyhood instead. Or just stay home and watch The Fault in Our Stars for a 50th time or The Perks of Being a Wallflower (one of my favorites). However, I’d still recommend it because you’ll see it for yourself, and not anyone else. Reviews are just opinions anyway. Enjoy.
