"My Sister's Keeper" quick movie review

When Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) is diagnosed with leukemia at a young age, her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) conceive a new daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), who is genetically altered to be an exact match for blood, kidney and marrow transplants for her older sister. Now, at the age of 11, Anna realizes her life could be greatly altered by such procedures and hires a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents for "medical emancipation." My Sister's Keeper, from director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook), is at first a film about firm issues and ethics, and then becomes about life, death and family. The cast is very strong, but no one stands out more than Sofia Vassilieva, whose wonderful and convincing portrayal of Kate gives the production its genuine feel. Cassavetes does a nice job of not getting carried away with trying to bring out the sobs. Instead, he sticks to the story and the characters at hand and lets the emotion come naturally, making My Sister's Keeper a satisfying drama.