50
What's annoying and eventually absurd is writer-director Isabel Coixet's decision to have her heroine keep the diagnosis a secret.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
25
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
In short, this isn't a poignant drama about courage and imagination -- it's a contrived fantasy about courage and imagination.
70
With a glowing performance by Sarah Polley as the doomed woman, this Spanish-Canadian co-prod, filmed in English, is surprisingly adept at avoiding the worst cliches and most manipulative elements inherent in such a story.
70
My Life Without Me was produced by the studio of Pedro Almodóvar, and one sees the Spanish director's influence in the way Polley edges her Madonna with a touch of the reckless sensualist.
38
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
A maudlin hack-job.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
A splendid cast, coupled with Isabel Coixet's deeply committed writing and direction, goes a long way to make this movie affecting to watch even it if doesn't hold up well to reflection once the lights go up.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Successfully surmounts nearly all the challenges of making a film about a young person dying. Which means the writer-director avoids pitfalls. It is not cloying or sentimental or falsely optimistic. It avoids bathos and exaggerated emotions. Instead, the film affirms life in surprising and gratifying ways.
67
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
This hankie-yanker is an emotional cheat.
40
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer
A weepie for audiences under the (mistaken) impression that independent movies are always more emotionally honest than Hollywood movies.
50
Asks for sympathy for deplorable behavior.