My Life Without Me (2003)

A young woman conceals the fact of her terminal cancer to live her life with a passion she never had before.

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writers:

Isabel Coixet, Nanci Kincaid (book)

Stars:

Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman, Leonor Watling

16 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Polley	...	Ann
Amanda Plummer	...	Laurie
Scott Speedman	...	Don
Leonor Watling	...	Ann, the Neighbor
Deborah Harry	...	Ann's Mother
Maria de Medeiros	...	The Hairdresser
Mark Ruffalo	...	Lee
Julian Richings	...	Dr. Thompson
Kenya Jo Kennedy	...	Patsy
Jessica Amlee	...	Penny
Esther García
Camille Martinez	...	(as Camille Martínez)
María Cami
Deanne Henry	...	Waitress
Gillian Barber	...	Nurse #1

Storyline

Ann, 23 years old, lives a modest life with her two kids and her husband in a trailer in her mother's garden. Her life takes a dramatic turn, when her doctor tells her that she has uterine cancer and only two months to live. She compiles a list of things to do before she dies.

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | doctor | death | birthday | drinking | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official website [United States]

Country:

Spain Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 2003 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Mi vida sin mí

Filming Locations:

New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

€2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$217,255 (Japan) (24 October 2003)

Gross:

$395,592 (USA) (12 December 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo S.A., Milestone Entertainment, Antena 3 Televisión

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Ann's fingernails after she gets them done.

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Quotes

Lee: Ann, it's something I have to tell you and I have to tell you now.
Ann: Lee, I'm...
Lee: I love you! I'm in love with you... And the world seens less terrible because you exist! I feel like I wanna be with you for the rest of my life... And all that, the palpitations, and the nerves... the pain, the happiness, and the fear! I wanna... I wanna touch you all the times! I wanna take care of you and your girls! And even find your husband a decent job! And get you a house that doesn't have wheels and...
Ann: ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Muchachada nui: Episode #4.2 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"God Only Knows"
Written by Tony Asher, Brian Wilson
Performed by The Langley Schools Music Projects

User Reviews

Death Becomes Her

"My Life Without Me" shows off Sarah Polley's beauty and acting that has been clear to her fans since her "Avonlea" days.

In writer/director Isabel Coixet's first English language feature, Polley takes what could have been a drippy, maudlin story of a dying young mother and turns it into a clear-eyed path to accepting early death and taking charge of the hand that's dealt you. This delicate view is in sharp contrast to Hollywood tripe like "Sweet November" where beautiful healthy women in denial die of Movie Star Disease.

When Polley's "Ann" gets her death sentence from a doctor who can't even look her in the eyes, she resolves, among other items on her "To Do Before I Die" list, to tell it like it is -- but finds that instead everyone around her spills out their inner-most problems and she doesn't get to, including an amusing effort to get a Milli Vanilli-loving hairdresser to cut her hair like she wants it. Perhaps it's because she chooses to lie to them about her imminent demise. Not only does Polley get to use her full-fledged Canadian accent complete with "Eh"s, but until I read it on her imdb bio I didn't know that when she was 11 Polley lost her mother to cancer, so she must have had personal experience to draw on.

The imdb credits do not include that the script is based on a short story by Nanci Kincaid, "Pretending the Bed is a Raft," with additional inspiration from a poem about a young women's death by John Berger, who is thanked prominently in the credits. The symbolism of Ann having met her husband at the last Nirvana concert is also played upon several times.

The music selections are lovely, both the romantic-sounding European ballads from one character's sister's DJ mix tape and the original music by Alfonso Vilallonga, that are poignant and keep out the schmaltz.

Polley's supporting actors are wonderful, from the lively children to Amanda Plummer, who has been MIA from films for a while, and Debbie Harry as the depressed mother.

There's a couple of resonances of the TV show "Felicity" as not only does "Ann" leave voiced-over audio tapes to her loved ones, but, yikes, even dying, "Ann" gets both gorgeous sensitive hunks Scott Speadmen and Mark Ruffalo to love her. It's effectively shown, though, that one was the love of an adolescence that ended too soon with parental responsibilities and the other of her too-short adulthood.