By CHRIS PUNTO & NATALIE SACKET
Columnists
By now the school semester should be in full swing .Much like all of your thoughts about class, our pick this week made us tussle with wanting to leave.
“If I Stay” (2014)
Chris’s Review-
1 star out of 5
As most of you can guess, this week we saw a movie. That movie, “If I Stay, ” is based on a pretty good-selling book. Now I’ve never read this book but it seems to be on the same playing field as “The Fault in Our Stars.” As a manly man, I cannot in good conscience say that I like that sort of thing, but I have to go anyway because if I don’t, my girlfriend won’t watch movies like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with me (she still won’t). Besides, if the movie has a good storyline to follow and keeps me engaged, it’s not so bad. A good movie will pull me in no matter the genre. This movie did more pushing than it did pulling, though.
“If I Stay” had both my girlfriend and me in tears, her because the movie was sad, me because I wanted to leave. “If I Stay” is a movie for the typical female who will cry when she runs over a bunny on the road. Even though she has no real connection with the characters, she still cries that they are dead, much like the bunny situation. The movie lacked character development. Is it in some way, shape or form sad that these people who are supposed to mean something to someone are now dead? Eh, I suppose. Do I care? No. Am I a sociopath? It’s possible.
This movie drags you through bits of this girl’s life through flashbacks as she “struggles” with the decision to stay and be with her boyfriend, or pass on like her family. Ladies, I understand that your man is the only one for you and that God himself put you two together, but if your whole immediate family is dead, are you seriously telling me that you would stay just for him? It just seems unrealistic. The plotline is shallow and I see no real reason to care about this girl’s life. I don’t mean to sound heartless. The movie had great, untapped potential, but the big word there is untapped.
Here’s the bottom line. Men, take your ladies to it to get some bonus points, unless you’re dating emotionless, unfeeling, cold women like Natalie. Just be sure that you skipped your nap that day so you catch a few Zs. Overall, the real question in this movie was not “if I stay”; it is “should I have stayed for the whole movie?”
Natalie’s review-
2.5 Stars out of 5
“If I Stay” was a lackluster drama that made me ask myself halfway through the film, “If I go, can I still review this movie?” That being said, I stuck it through and realized I had judged the film too soon. The plot and theme I found very intriguing; HOWEVER, the execution was lacking and made it difficult to immerse myself in the film.
Just because Chloë Grace Moretz’s character is in a coma for the majority of the movie doesn’t justify that her acting abilities are equivalent to that of a sack of potatoes. Excuse the snark. I realize her career has been on the rise, but I found this character set her back as an actress. I found Moretz’s portrayal of the character lacking in depth. I felt no empathy for the character, which is necessary to become immersed in a drama such as this one. If I don’t believe the character is feeling pain and sadness, I will not feel sadness either.
There were many times during this film where I thought to myself, “Wow, what is happening on screen right now is terrible and sad. Why don’t I feel sad? I hear sniffling. Why is everyone crying, and I’m not? Maybe it’s just because of allergies. Nope, I’m clearly the only one not tearing up. What’s the matter with me? Are my emotions broken? Am I a sociopath?” Thank you, “If I Stay,” for making me question my self-worth as a decent human being. While I had trouble immersing myself into this drama, as I said before, others seemed to have no such problem. Chris was probably bawling during the opening credits.
This film was obviously geared toward the teen female audience – which, ironically, is probably why I, as a female teen, disliked it. This is also probably why Chris secretly liked it. There was a bit too much, “OMG HE IS SO HOTTT,” and too little depth of character to balance it out.
There were, however, positives. I’m always down for a good alternative rock soundtrack mixed with some great classical music. I loved the focus on musicians and the subplot that music can be a saving force. The setting and filming was great, as well as the plot. All around this film had all the pieces of a wonderful drama, but they just weren’t quite put together right.
“If I Stay” will definitely not be staying on any top movie lists this week.