Miss You Already – a movie review by Roz Tarszisz
This may be a film about women, written and directed by women, but that does not make it a chick flick.
Best friends since school, Jess (Drew Barrymore) and Milly (Toni Collette) have shared everything as they caroused and misbehaved through their teens and early twenties. Now grownup and settled in London. Jess lives on a Thames houseboat with partner Jago (Paddy Considine) and they are trying to get pregnant.
Milly is married to Kit (Dominic Cooper) and while their wedding was unconventional now live in a fancy converted warehouse with their two children. A successful PR supremo, Milly is larger than life with a flash wardrobe to match. Jess is more low-key and has dedicated herself to environmental work.
Miranda , Milly’s mother, (Jacqueline Bisset, looking as fabulous as ever) is still a working actress. As she tells her grandchildren, she’s definitely not to be addressed as Nana. Jago is loving and supportive and desperately wants Jess to have their baby and Kit makes an attentive father and husband. It is nice to see men so well written.
Milly is stunned to learn she has breast cancer and puts off telling Kit and it will be up to Jess to get her through the grind of chemotherapy. When Milly learns she will have to undergo a double mastectomy, she finds it hard to accept– understandable really for a woman still in her prime. When she flashes her breasts at friendly barman Ace (Tyson Ritter) she is looking for a reaction and affirmation of herself as an attractive woman.
Jess is a true friend and the long-standing intimacy between her and Milly is very real. The film’s strength is the closeness of their relationship and when they fall out, it hurts everyone.
The London settings are picturesque as are the Yorkshire moors the women visit one night on Milly’s whim. For anyone who has experience of cancer, particularly breast cancer, it is close to home and rings true. It’s a story of great friendship and loss with laughs amongst the tears.
Screenplay by Morwenna Banks includes subtle and understated moments. Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen) directs with a sure hand and there is something for everyone, not only women.
3/5 2015 Rated M 112 mins Released October 8
Starring Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Screenplay: Morwenna Banks
