Alicia I love this movie so much

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jimbo-53-186511 Classical pianist Kate (Hilary Swank) finds herself in a life-changing situation when she is diagnosed with ALS. 18 months after the diagnosis, Kate and her husband Evan (Josh Duhamel) interview college student Bec (Emily Rossum) in the hope of employing her as Kate's carer. Bec's lack of experience and poor timekeeping are of concern to Evan, but Kate sees something in her and decides to offer her the job. What follows is an employer/employee relationship that is often rocky, but one that proves unforgettable for both women.The set-up at the start is kind of a 'fish out of water' scenario; Bec is unable to perform any basic duties such as cooking and assisting Kate with her 'lavatorial duties'. This begs the question of why Kate would employ Bec, but this is a minor gripe which I'm prepared to overlook. The other segment in the early stages sets the pair up as a bit of odd couple - 2 people who are completely different spending large amounts of time in each other's company. This set up provides some amusing moments and despite Bec's incompetence and indifference at the start I still actually quite liked her character. The writers did a good job in painting Bec as a young woman lacking in direction rather than someone who was out and out bad (at least that's how I saw her). In this respect Bec's character is a little clichéd, but thankfully her character is fairly well-written and explored - the only thing that I felt could have been expanded more was her notion of becoming a singer/songwriter (this is addressed at the end, but isn't explored well during the film).Kate's character is more straight-laced; she doesn't like swearing and seems to have morals and principles. The fact that they are so different is what brings about the 'culture-clash', but this in essence is what actually helps to bring about the best in both women. Bec's strong character rubs off on Kate and makes Kate toughen up whereas Kate's strong moral stance clearly rubs off on Bec making her question some of her own life choices.Although the film is well-written and the characters were well developed these things would be nothing without the wonderful performances from Swank and Rossum. Inevitably, Swank will be the one that gets the most recognition as she had a much tougher task, but Rossum shouldn't be overlooked - she plays her role with a brash edge but there's always an underlying sensitivity with her character. I thought that Rossum's character would annoy me when I saw her in the early stages, but I ended up quite liking her!!!. The chemistry between the two women was excellent and I could see that a warm and deep bond existed between them. Although they were boss and employee at the start you got the impression that they were best friends by the end.Films of this nature can sometimes end up being a bit sappy and manipulative but I never got that feeling when watching this film. For me, it had a balanced even-handed storytelling approach that painted everyone as human beings and helped to highlight the difficulties that not only an individual suffering with ALS has to endure, but also how this affects everyone around the individual. If you have a heart or any kind of empathy in your body then this is not to be missed.

pmckinnon This is going to my Top 10 list! What a powerful movie.Yes, bring your tissues...you'll need them. I don't like it because it's a tear jerker (not really my favorite kind of movie), but because of the excellent story, fabulous screenplay and wonderful acting.No, it's not "squishy", not a girlie movie (it's Hillary Swank for goodness sake) - it's wonderfully engaging.Watch carefully. Pay attention. Hillary Swank shows us what she is feeling without a word. There are subtle clues that keep one IN the movie.This is one I'll watch many times.

navtaz In all fairness having watched Intouchables (2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/ watching this movie felt more like a female version of the same storyline. Hilary Swank has done a powerful portrayal of person suffering from ALS and you are almost shocked to see her degenerative condition take shape in her speech and movement, the rest of the cast is also quite good and has done a fair job but besides this the movie it self was more like a documentary with a very shallow story line and not much to offer then provoking a few sentimental thoughts for the characters through the movie. With a very predictable plot and nothing left to imagination I would rate this as a rather mediocre movie and am rather amazed by the high rating it has been getting, the only explanation I have is that it plays well on peoples sentiments and carries popular cast.

andrejdosen Combine the trends of remaking European movies in Hollywood with the ALS ice water bucket challenge and add some bad acting to get the sense of how lousy this movie was. Unlike its French template The Intouchables which was a fantastic heart-warming comedy with amazing acting, this one was a cheap attempt to milk some money from the hype that was stirred by the ALS awareness raising campaign that went on a couple of months back. Such a serious disease needs a much more thoroughly thought-through movie. Emmy Rossum acts the same as in Shameless (very bad), Josh Duhamel struggles and overacts in his first serious role, Hillary Swank is good as usual in another one of her endless strong-women roles.