We’re very happy to introduce you to our newest Eleventh Stack contributor, Kayla. Kayla is a page at our Squirrel Hill location, and you can read more about her on the About Us page.You can expect to get Kayla’s take on library materials and services once or twice a month going forward.
If I Stay is a movie based on a young adult novel of the same title. The movie was released last year and got some comparisons to The Fault In Our Stars. Both movies had a female lead and they were both love stories in a sense. That is where the comparisons end.
I must say that The Fault In Our Stars had better acting by far and it grabbed me more than If I Stay did. If I Stay did grab me, but not enough for me to go to the theaters to see it. I’m glad that I decided to wait until it came out on DVD to watch it. It was a cute movie, but it wasn’t worth paying money to see. There were positives and negatives.
First, I felt that the portrayal of Mia’s parents and her brother, Teddy, was accurate. The family dynamic showed that Mia was the odd one out because she played the cello; meanwhile her parents have rock & roll roots because her dad used to play in a rock band. Her mom used to follow the punk rock scene. Her little brother, Teddy, was also into rock & roll.
Mia in the movie was having an out-of-body experience seeing her friends and family watching her to see if she will awaken from her coma. It was like that in the book as well, but it was interesting to see it play out on screen. For an odd reason, Chloë Grace Moretz’s acting was reminiscent of Lindsay Lohan when she was younger. This isn’t a bad thing it was just something that I thought of while watching the movie. Mia’s boyfriend, Adam, played by Jamie Blackley, was also into rock & roll music, like Mia’s parents. He did a lot of singing in the movie and it was surprisingly decent.
One big issue that I had with the movie was the relationship between Mia and Adam. The reason why I had an issue was because I felt that the actors’ chemistry was just OK. Sometimes their chemistry came off as forced and not convincing. There was an age difference between Mia and Adam and you could definitely tell that there is an age difference between the actors. Chloë looks like a little girl and Jamie looks like a grown man. It was kind of weird to watch.
Cute or creepy? Photo via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – click through for their review
The movie moved fast, but it kept pace with the book. The movie switched back and forth between the present and the past. There were never any words on the screen saying which was which, but you could tell. I think that it was easier for people like myself who read the book to catch the difference more quickly.
Another little issue that I had was Mia’s narration; I felt that at times it wasn’t needed. In the book, it was better to deal with as compared to on screen.
Overall, I felt that the movie was OK but it would’ve been better if it were shown on Lifetime or ABC Family. I’m glad that I got to see the movie so I could see how the story looked on screen. If you read the book and want to see the movie or are in the mood for a cheesy teen drama-yet-sometimes-comedy, check out If I Stay from your local CLP location.
–Kayla
Eleventh Stack 
Reblogged this on Yes, hello; that's me..
Thanks for the reblog!