Matching Jack

It's a shameless tear jerker that must have some feelings of shame as it disguises itself as a love story in the summery presented on this page, and as a film that "avoids emotional extortion of any kind" in the words of the Jerusalem Film Festival catalog. But tear jerkers have their right to exist and many do like them, I don't like them much but that's not the reason that got my rating as low as 7/10. My biggest problem was that everything happening in this film follows the kids cancer film cliché. Nothing unexpected happens here, the only reason it still works is the fact already mentioned in my title - superb acting by everybody on the cast the whole thing is believable because everybody on screen is simply super, and that's something to see. The director has chosen a low key approach for herself and simply lets her story play out - it also suits the case. A little more originality and this "tear jerker" could've been a real gem. As it is, what you get is exactly what the story promises.