Two Weeks centers on Anita (Sally Field), who is dying of cancer. As the movie opens, and the title indicates, she is in the final two weeks of her life. Her four grown children have descended on the home she shares with her second husband. As the kids arrive, they bicker among themselves over her care and her wishes, as well as opening up a dialogue between themselves which sheds light on their own interactions with each other.
Perhaps it is the fact that I went through a strikingly similar situation that the differences between this experience and my own were more pronounced. I watch the film and I cannot help but be affected on an emotional level. In some ways there is a stark realism to the film, it is a very real situation with some very real feelings dredged up. Still, there is still something that is quite unreal creating a form of detachment for me.
Sally Field as the ailing matriarch anchors Two Weeks. Her performance is touching and sweet, and very real. Without her, this movie would have slipped into the abyss of anonymous tearjerker films that get run ad infinitum on those upper cable stations that not many people frequent. Still, none of them are overtly bad, and many have the potential of being good performances. The supporting cast includes Ben Chaplin, Tom Cavanagh, Julianne Nicholson (Law & Order: CI), and Glen Howerton (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as the four siblings.
One great moment comes when Anita's husband, Jim (James Murtagh), is talking to his step-kids. They are trying to get him involved, while he feels he is being forced out of his own home as his feelings are being ignored. He goes so far as to describe their arrival as: "descending locusts." In a way it is true, it is just to bad we don't get much time with Jim as he deals with his pain.
Audio/Video. The disk I have is a promo copy, so I cannot say that this is how it will look on the production copies. As this disk stands, the audio is fine, but the video is a little fuzzy and not terribly sharp. Hopefully, the production version you will find in the store will look better.
Bonus Material. The disk is a two-sided disk with full and widescreen versions. The extras are also split between the two sides.
- Commentary. The track features writer/director Steve Stockman. It is a decent track, based on the parts that I sampled. He reminisces on the film and his own experiences.
- Deleted Scenes. Four scenes that were excised. One of them probably should have remained, as a part of the film references the event. (4 minutes)
- Group Discussion Guide. A series of text questions designed to help you deal with death.
- Trailers. Once and Family Stone.
- Learning to Live Through Dying. A making of featurette with plenty of decent information. (23.5 minutes)
Bottomline. A bit of a weepy, a bit of a snoozer, not terribly engrossing. Again, it is a film that is going to have a limited audience. Not everyone is going to want to go through this or not, based on content and not quality. Overall, it is a finely made film, but I think that it could have had a better impact had it avoided the melodrama.
Mildly Recommended.
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