Let me get this out of the way – the car accident that has Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) “fighting” for her life claims her parents. In other words, one way or another, this is a tragedy. It cannot be otherwise — no matter what other strings are resolved.
Mia is one those hot high school cellists you read so much about. Oh yeah, baby, use the big bow. While sequestering herself for some extracurricular celling, Mia attracts the attention of the local beatnik, Adam (Jamie Blackley). He’s one of those cool and confident “sexy and I know it” high schoolers far more common in movies than real life. He’s front man on a rising Portland garage band, hence the music connection with Mia is instant (sure, Jamie Blackley resembles a musician, all right, but rocker? No. Oh, no. I think not. He looks he’s studying to conduct the local philharmonic.) Before long, he’s asking her to the local hardcore cello scene and you know that’s trouble.
Hard not to like Mia’s parents (Mireille Enos & Joshua Leonard). Mostly because they’re bizarrely hip and supportive. He’s a former bass player; she’s a former groupie – and they never got the look and feel of traditional parenting. It is kind of cute when shy and relatively conservative Mia has to raid mom’s closet to look like Debbie Harry for Halloween. Isn’t it cute when generations clash?
Most of the movie is told in flashback … snowy day …terrible accident … Mia having an out-of-body experience while her broken self gets medical care. Until gramps (Stacy Keach) shows up, the hospital scenes are ugly and useless. It’s all about Adam being denied visitation rights because he’s not family. If I Stay practically has to invent other family so that
somebody will visit the poor girl in a coma. I was displeased with the flashbacks of relationship strife between Adam and Mia. I guess we have to present Mia as being on the fence about returning (or you have to retitle this thing), but seeing Mia and Adam argue completely undermines any beauty the film has to offer.
I know this shouldn’t matter, but the thing I most take away from If I Stay is: did Chloë Grace Moretz do her own stunts here? Because it really looks like she’s playing the cello. And not just playing, but really, really rocks at it. However that happened – practice, body double, CGI, photoshop, Claymation … cool. I truly believed Chloë is a Julliard talent.
If I Stay wanders all over the emotional map, constantly mining for audience reactions in the pits of despair, love, excitement, horror, anticipation, anxiety and about 70 more emotions I haven’t named. There are better films aimed at your melodramatic thirteen-year-old coed (The Fault in Our Stars, for one), but you can do worse. If I Stay is harmless and it may just bring parents and rebellious children a touch closer.
♪Portland, you gotta let me know
Should I veg or should I blow
If you say Julliard is fine
I’ll “cell out” til the end of time
So c’mon, cause I don’t know
Who’s here left to run the show? ♫
Rated PG-13, 106 Minutes
D: R.J. Cutler
W: Shauna Cross
Genre: Teen tragedy
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Just transplant the crowd from The Fault in Our Stars next door.
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Their boyfriends
♪ Parody inspired by “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
