One More Kiss (1999)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't Believe the Hype

As Good As It Gets

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie shows a sensitivity and finesse that do all of the actors huge credit. I became quickly immersed in the story line and thought how delicately it was handled. Gerard Butler seems to have a rare ability when it comes to this type of subject. His character Sam was a delight a rare man who showed true compassion for the young girl suffering from cancer. She was so brave and matter of fact that she scared me. I have commented on Gerard Butler before and each film I see convinces me that here we have a rare talent. He is truly a master of his craft. Thank you for so much enjoyment even if I cried a river. Wonderful Stuff more please.

Having left her native Scotland to go to New York to pursue her career, Sarah returns home to tell her family and friends that she has cancer and has little time left to live. Specifically she has returned to spend time with her ex-boyfriend Sam, who is now married. His wife Charlotte is not supportive but Sam does it anyway. While the two of them spend time together they start to become a bit closer and recall memories from the past; meanwhile Sarah also tries to mend things with her present but emotionally distant father Frank.Within five minutes I realised that I had started watching a genre film in a genre that I generally don't like – the "seize the day while at death's door" movie. Generally an excuse for a load of hankies to come out and the audience to be put through the Hollywood emotional mangle, it is not an experience that I enjoy that much. However, despite some clunky and preachy moments, this is actually quite an engaging and raw experience that I found quite enjoyable, well, maybe "enjoyable" is not a good word. The characters and the emotions are well painted and I can forgive the film its soapy, sweeping opening sequence mainly because it does get much closer to reality from then onwards. Of course it is still a genre movie and it does have its fair share of "seize the day" dialogue but it generally avoids the clichés, cheese and moods that you will find in countless television movies cluttering the daytime television schedules.The cast help this by being pretty convincing and bringing the best out of the good script. Edmond worried me at first but got stronger as it went on; she was convincing in the main and she works well with her support cast. Butler is not quite as good but he works well with Edmond although he could have done better with Gogan, who herself is perhaps weakened by the fact that her character is not all that it could have been. Cosmo is as solid as he always is and I found him to be easy to care about and relate to (perhaps due to him being rather bottled up). Jean's direction is good and generally avoids sentimentality, to the benefit of the material generally.Overall then this is a genre film but it is one that is worth a look if, like me, you generally don't care for the genre. It is soapy at times (specifically the opening ten minutes is very "genre") but generally it is convincingly raw and all the better for it. The cast bring this out well and director Vadim Jean seems to have little or no interest in manipulating the audience emotionally or drawing out fake emotions and despite my initial concerns, it was certainly one of the better films I have seen albeit in a generally weak genre (in my opinion).

Sarah (Valerie Edmond) has returned home to Scotland, having lived in New York for seven years, to tell her childhood sweetheart, Sam (Gerard Butler), and her dad, Frank (James Cosmo), that she is dying of cancer. She wants to spend as much time as she can with Sam and complete her list of things to do with him. However, Sam is now married to Charlotte (Valerie Gogan) who doesn't like the idea. However, Sam agrees to spend time with Sarah and gradually his marriage starts to fall apart. Then Charlotte presents him with opera tickets for his birthday and Sam is left with the ultimate dilemma: Charlotte or Sarah?One More Kiss is a very moving film and should strike everyone on some level. The characters are played believably with the best performances coming from Gerard Butler (the reason I bought this film) and James Cosmo. Valerie Gogan is very good as the jealous wife, but Valerie Edmond came across very rehearsed, it didn't seem natural and Danny Nussbaum playing Jude, a fellow cancer sufferer, was also a weak performance. You react strangely to the characters than you would expect. Sympathy lies with Sam who's best friend is dying and his wife is getting very angry with him. You also feel sorry for Frank, who is lovable and rather clueless and out-of-touch, which adds some comedy to the film. At first you dislike Charlotte because she's trying to stop Sam from seeing Sarah, despite her condition. However, this initial thought changes as you see, along with Charlotte, her perfect marriage crumbling before her. She is very cold in things she says about Sarah. At one point Sam says "She's dying, Charlotte" and Charlotte says that Sarah should "get on with it." This doesn't really strike as a cruel blow because her life (Sam) is being taken away from her for someone who is doubtful that they'll last the year. At first you feel sorry for Sarah as she has returned home to spend time with her childhood sweetheart and his wife is reacting coldly to her. However, Sarah appears more and more selfish, wanting Sam to put his life on hold for her to live what she has left to the full. You see the presence of Sarah tearing apart the marriage of Sam and Charlotte, until it comes right down to the dilemma mentioned earlier.A stand out quote in this film, which I really liked, is when the cancer sufferer group is in a meeting and Jude is being a whiny, self-pitying child and says in a raised, angry voice: "Would anyone like to buy more f*cking cancer?" and one man says softly "I would buy it from you, Jude. If I could." Just a very touching moment.As I've said the story is great, the acting is great and I strongly recommend this film to anyone. I'm a horror movie fan and I loved this. 10/10 from me. Check it out and see if my character summary is right.

The performances by all the cast were extraordinary. I bought this on DVD, because I am a fan of Gerard Butler, who played Sam, the childhood sweetheart of the dying Sarah, who returned home to Scotland from NY to find him, when she learns that she is dying of cancer.Gerry Butler gives a very believable performance as Sarah's married former sweetheart, who still loves Sarah, and arranges to spend as much time with her as possible doing many of the things she always wanted to do. Frank, Sarah's father had spent the last 7 years sitting around waiting to die, Sarah's return forces him to start living again. This story takes us inside a therapy group for cancer sufferers, where we meet a 24 year old man who rages because he never had a chance to do anything with his life. It is a quiet gentle movie, with a lesson for everyone about making every day count.