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To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was starring Anne Hathaway and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the concept of this sister reading the diary of her comatose brother and visit his favorite places had some potential. Indeed, I really liked the sad melancholic tone and the music was really neat. On top of that, the main characters, well played by Hathaway and Johnny Flynn, were intriguing. Indeed, they were both two lost souls (one grieving about her ill brother, the other stuck with writer’s block) who somehow felt a connection. And, yet, in spite of its potential, the damned thing never really grabbed me though. For starters, they did push Granny’s quest too far, a quest which was… what was it exactly in fact? By the way, since she was basically a student, how could she afford a vintage gramophone and a vintage keyboard? How buying this stuff was helping her brother anyway? Was playing some music not enough? Then, they had some trouble connecting this burgeoning romantic relationship with Henry’s tragic predicament. As a result, as soon as he woke up, James suddenly vanished without saying a word, which was narratively quite dramatic but hardly sensical. I mean, why did he suddenly feel the urge to dump Franny? Was their relationship meaningless without Henry in a coma? Franny’s reaction was even worse though. Indeed, she went all the way to Philadelphia to miss his concert and didn’t even see him but, instead, she left a two words note and a CD. Again, it might seem interesting on a dramatic level but, on a more serious level, who does that? It seemed that the makers figured out that the characters somehow needed some closure but, instead of simply saying ‘goodbye’ like normal human beings, they went for something rather dramatic instead but it actually did backfire. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
6/10
