What a waste of my time!!!

the audience applauded

just watch it!

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

No where near as good as the book, the film misses most of the key points and changes far too much of the story!

This film was hard to watch. What rubbed me the wrong way is how mom did things that were morally wrong to both her girls and left the boy's needs out of the picture. I think mom was not able to see what she was doing was wrong and see the pain it was causing.It had some really good acting.Only see this one if you are up for it.

Let's face it, some books are better not having film adaptations. This is no exception. The screenplay's a mess, the pacing is all over the place and the characters (apart from Kate and Anna) really aren't very likable. I mean I get it, the mother was supposed to be this die hard tenacious woman trying to save her daughter, but she comes off more as a maniac who is willing to kill everyone and everything to save her daughter, including the people around her. Cameron Diaz just doesn't convince me as the mother and what makes it worse is in the midst of being a maniac she tries to slip in quirky jokes that are flat as pancakes. As for the rest of the cast, I mean Abby Breslin is fine as Anna and is even right on the money with the part, but the script she's given is so bad that it squanders that talent. Sofia Vassilieva as well. She owns her part, but again the script kills her acting. The rest of the cast is just a range of big names from Alec Baldwin to Emily Deschanel to Joan Cusack to even E.G. Daily as nothing more than two dimensional characters who show up for a few scenes to pad out the movie. The film repeatedly switches between failed comedy and heavy handed emotionally manipulative scenes. Seriously, are you trying to make us laugh or cry?So I'd say avoid this. It rings hollow and most of the movie feels like filler. Like I said, there are lots of movies that do well coming off of books, but this isn't one of them.

It's impossible to write a review without spoilers for this movie so I'll simply say....Fantastic Cast, Emotional story, Well written but average direction (hence 9/10 not 10)For me the direction in the first half could have been better but you'll forget about it after a while. The ending could have been better too. The Director has missed a trick here. When you watch it (and love it still) you'll know what I mean and think about the ending you actually wanted.All that said, you have to see this movie!