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Now Is Good review

A sassy teen with leukaemia ticks off her bucket list

Reviews
By Kevin Harley published 10 September 2012

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Gag or cry?

That's the dilema posed by Ol Parker’s adaptation of Jenny Downham’s novel Before I Die , where Dakota Fanning is Tessa, a sassy teen with leukaemia whose hunger to live (Sex! Drugs!) before she dies drives Dad (Paddy Considine) spare.

Fanning’s forthright stare and Considine’s paternal warmth punch through weepie cliché, but Parker saddles his tougher truths with carpe-diem contrivances, ranging from a convenient hunk-next-door romance to a plot largely made of marshmallow ‘meaningful moments’.

You may like
  • Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Kelson in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review: "The wildest and weirdest entry into the franchise yet"
  • Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning as Gustav and Rachel in Sentimental Value Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård discuss unlikely friendships and avoiding cliche in Sentimental Value
  • Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis and Dacre Montgomery as Richard Hall in Dead Man's Wire Bill Skarsgård plays a scorned kidnapper in Dead Man's Wire, a surprisingly funny crime thriller

You’ll be in bits, but your critical faculties might weep too.

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Kevin Harley
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Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at GamesRadar+. 

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