Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Blistering performances.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It was quite some time I have not seen any Hilary Swank's movie. In this her role was very good one. Beside her's, another equally extended character played by Emma Rossum. As these two play the roles that defines the movie, which is more like the American and women's version of the French movie 'Intouchable'. I never heard of this film before, but got interested once I learnt about the storyline and of course the cast.I usually become a prey for tearjerker movies, but not for the intense emotional drama like this one and so it is won't expect you fall for it either. Based on the book of the same name which was probably a fictional work inspired by the real disease. It talks about a 36 year old ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) patient, Kate and her caregiver, Bec, especially their unlikely relationship and activities together in the final days. They two are exactly opposite, it's not the fate, but day by day growing their deep bond bring them very close when they share everything in life.A very good concept, but nothing new in the movie. Everything is already exhibited in other films. The only advantage is if you have not seen those in a large number. In my case, I like this kind of theme, so seen numerous in different languages. You are going to witness here a parallel storytelling in a different context with a fresh cast. But still the movie is captivating, because of excellent execution from both the cast and crew."Why is it that we want the ones that don't see us. Instead of the ones that do."The let down was the rest of the characters. I don't know where they were, but totally discarded. It is understood that the husband and wife relationship was shattered because of the sacrifice. Friends and Parents, they have got ditched from the screenplay that won't happen in reality. The writers should have used them to create more sensational moments, but they had a different idea in mind to narrate the story. In a couple of places I felt Rossum had over-performed. In other hand, Swank was kind of attractive. I consider it a plus point to fix our face towards the screen, unfortunately she played a tragic role.Despite all the good and bad, it was one step ahead for both the lead women to get back to their positions as an actress, compared to their recent years form in the industry. It is not a popular movie, but it should have been. A movie about how to build a friendship and to fight a disease. A friendship that blossomed at the final juncture, nevertheless it fought hard till the last minute. That is the major difference in this film to others. Like I complained earlier, there's no parents or husband, all about told from the perspective of a friendship. If you want to try this, don't anticipate to a greater height and clear your mind before entering. Expectations are the major cause for all the disappointments.7/10

Stereotypical Hollywood dramatization of a serious medical issue. Usual hooks of attractive, successful, creative woman (a plain working person wouldn't do) and her sudden encounter with the effects of ALS on her and relationships with family. The usual script hooks of cheating husband; too proper relatives; and the best hook of all, a soon to be hired caretaker about as artificially made up (scripted) to be the opposite in character as a writer can think up. Caretaker is made to be her foil and it is tediously obvious, right from the very beginning - soon to be best friend & confident. Casting, a cop-out to attract audience as none of the acting was at all believable. Well, maybe to the rom-com, romance paperback viewers the acting and script formula was Teflon perfect.

Combine the trends of remaking European movies in Hollywood with the ALS ice water bucket challenge and add some bad acting to get the sense of how lousy this movie was. Unlike its French template The Intouchables which was a fantastic heart-warming comedy with amazing acting, this one was a cheap attempt to milk some money from the hype that was stirred by the ALS awareness raising campaign that went on a couple of months back. Such a serious disease needs a much more thoroughly thought-through movie. Emmy Rossum acts the same as in Shameless (very bad), Josh Duhamel struggles and overacts in his first serious role, Hillary Swank is good as usual in another one of her endless strong-women roles.

"You wanna die and you know that I won't let you" Kate (Swank) has the perfect life. She is a classical pianist with a loving husband. One day she notices something strange happening to her, when she is diagnosed with ALS her life is changed. After burning through caregivers she hires Bec (Rossum). This simple hire does more for both of them than they could have imagined. This is simply a great movie. I had trouble trying to figure out why Hilary Swank didn't get nominated for this. That aside the movie is tremendously emotional and full of heart. The movie will make you angry, happy and cry, sometimes at the same time. Rossum also does a fantastic job in this. This is not a movie that makes you feel sorry for Kate, even though you do. This movie gives hope and happiness to not only those suffering from the disease but also the care givers to those helping. I can not say enough about this and I recommend this. Overall, a great movie that Swank should have gotten more recognition for. Watch this. I give it an A-.