Checked out the latest in a weird new subgenre of “sick teenage girl is special because she’s sick” romances called Five Feet Apart. I know there’s always been dying person romance movies, but there’s been a glut of them since The Fault In Our Stars (cancer) came out. These include Everything, Everything (allergic to the outside), Midnight Sun (allergic to sunlight), The Space Between Us (allergic to Earth), Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (cancer), and a couple others. Not sure what to make of this other than maybe just coat-tail riding… trying to get that sweet, sweet Fault In Our Stars money.
Five Feet Apart is about teens with cystic fibrosis and is… well… it’s a movie about sick teenagers in love. And it was far too long and the two leads were kind of unlikable… she’s got OCD and freaks out when the boy – who she hates at first because he’s a legit jerk – doesn’t take his disease seriously. While I didn’t like him much at all, she was a little more likable and, when she wasn’t, at least there was a story/character reason for it. Unfortunately, when they get over themselves and fall in love… well, they also become a little boring. She’s better than him, I suppose… but maybe his tragic doe-eyed dying to be with her will appeal more to the ladies.
So, yeah, they have cystic fibrosis, are living in the hospital, and can’t be within six feet of each other lest they catch the other’s bacteria. They find multiple creative ways to spend time together (Facetime, between glass, with the use of five foot long poolstick (the extra foot required is ignored)). They have a gay best friend who also has CF and is also a cliche who is used and abused cynically by the screen play to bring them closer together.
And that’s where the movie really started to lose me. It was far and away too melodramatic in its plot contrivances. Don’t get me wrong… I can handle and enjoy a weepie… I really like Fault In Our Stars and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl… but this movie… I don’t know. I don’t think it was well enough made to earn some of its weepier plot contrivances.
That said, I fully suspect if you are the type of person who wants to see a romance movie so you can just turn into a puddle of weeping mush (no insult intended there – everyone likes what they like), then this might work for you. It’s not something I’d go seeking out.
The movie was tedious but had a moment or two that maybe worked. It barely ekes a minor recommendation if you are in the right mood or the type of person for it. I really do think this will be a hit for some (including the crying people behind me in the movies) so check it out if that’s your thing. You already know if it’s your type of flick.
Score: 70