The two leading actresses were getting about on the chat shows and so on to promote this new film, and it was getting positive reviews, I was looking forward to seeing what this film had to offer in the subject tackled, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, Twilight, Red Riding Hood). Basically Jess (Drew Barrymore) and Milly (Toni Collette) have been best friends ever since childhood, and have shared everything since, from secret, clothes, laughs, substances and even boyfriends, it was their differences that drew them together, they have had to become more mature and develop individual lives as adults, but that does not stop them having fun. Milly has a successful high-flying career and lives in a beautiful townhouse with rock star husband Kit (Dominic Cooper) and their two children, Scarlett (Honor Kneafsey) and Ben (Ryan Lennon); Jess works in a community garden and lives in a houseboat with her boyfriend Jago (The Bourne Ultimatum's Paddy Considine), they desperately want a baby together. The friendship between Jess and Milly is truly tested when Milly is given life changing news, after a checkup with doctors she is told that she has breast cancer, so she needs Jess's support now more than ever, but she has to balance her own life as well. Milly starts to go through chemotherapy, meaning the loss of her hair, and she also has an operation that will hopefully remove the cancerous tumour in her breast and stop it returning, this also means reconstructive surgery for her breast tissue, Jess does support and see Milly as much as she can. Jess is overjoyed when she is finally pregnant, then she is shocked to discover, when travelling with her to a hotel in the mountain countryside, that Milly has been having an affair with waiter Ace (Tyson Ritter), Jess upset storms off, and has a little fall that later may cause complications for her pregnancy. Milly's cancer treatment has been unsuccessful and it is unclear how much longer she has to live, she is able to make it up with Jess, and when it comes time for Jess to give birth to her first child her best friend is determined to get to the hospital to witness it, with the help of her actress mother Miranda (The Deep's Jacqueline Bisset), Jago meanwhile is forced to work on a rig and watch the birth through a live internet feed. In the end Jess is with Milly in her final moments of life in a hospice, she promises her best friend that she will care for her children and to find happiness, Milly dies, but her spirit remains with Jess in the form of her mischievous daughter, and life goes on. Also starring Vicious's Frances de la Tour as Jill and Mem Ferda as Ahmed. Barrymore and Collette are brilliant as the best friends challenged by the highs and lows of life and with one facing a life-threatening illness, the cancer progression is very realistic, but the film is thankfully not full of too much sentimentality and mawkishness, it actually has funny moments along the way as well, all in all it is a great comedy drama. Very good!
