My Life Without Me (2003)

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writers:

Isabel Coixet (writer)
Nanci Kincaid (book)

Release Date:

7 March 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Cancer | Doctor | Death | Birthday | Drinking

Awards:

16 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

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
Errin Clutton
Jerry Thompson
Morgan Brayton	...	Nurse #2
Sam Barnett
Lauren Diewold	...	Nurse #2 - Young
Neezor Elerezeli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sonja Bennett	...	Sarah (uncredited)
Tyron Leitso	...	Guy in Bar (uncredited)
Alfred Molina	...	Ann's Father (uncredited)

Directed by
Isabel Coixet

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Isabel Coixet		writer
Nanci Kincaid		book "Pretending the Bed is a Raft"

Produced by
Agustín Almodóvar	....	executive producer
Pedro Almodóvar	....	executive producer
Esther García	....	producer
Ogden Gavanski	....	executive producer
Gordon McLennan	....	producer
Michel Ruben	....	associate producer
Jordi Torrent	....	line producer

Original Music by
Alfonso de Vilallonga

Cinematography by
Jean-Claude Larrieu

Film Editing by
Lisa Robison

Casting by
Heidi Levitt
Monika Mikkelsen

Production Design by
Carol Lavallee

Art Direction by
Shelley Bolton

Set Decoration by
Shelley Bolton

Costume Design by
Katia Stano

Makeup Department
Melanie Burke	....	hair stylist
Diana Davison	....	key makeup artist
Maria Gleeson	....	makeup swing

Production Management
Dan Schlanger	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gurjit Chohan	....	third assistant director
Debra Herst	....	second assistant director
Sandra Mayo	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Paul Brown	....	assistant set decorator
Tim Higgins	....	set dresser
Rubén Rivas	....	graphic designer
Craig Stokes	....	property master
Amy Wilding	....	on-set dresser

Sound Department
Biel Cabré	....	assistant sound editor
Manuel Corrales	....	foley artist
Viorel Ghiocel	....	boom operator
Patrick Ghislain	....	sound re-recording mixer
Albert Manera	....	sound editor
Albert Manera	....	sound supervisor
Iván Mayoral	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Albert Nieto	....	assistant sound editor
Fabiola Ordoyo	....	sound editor
Sebastian Salm	....	sound
Ricardo Viñas	....	dolby sound consultant

Special Effects by
Bill Mills	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Pedro Martínez	....	digital effects artist
José Rossi	....	digital effects artist: titles
Pablo Urrutia	....	digital effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Akester	....	still photographer
Jim Bach	....	video playback operator
Trevor Berry	....	best boy grip
Natasha Braier	....	director of photography: second unit (as Natasha Brier)
Pascal Pillot-Bruhat	....	gaffer
Thomas Ryan Pilon	....	key grip
Richard Porta	....	second assistant camera
Adrienne Richards	....	camera loader
Jeff Seeger	....	lamp operator
Randy Swanson	....	grip

Casting Department
Heike Brandstatter	....	casting: Canada
L.A. Hilts	....	extras casting (as Lesleyanne Hilts)
Coreen Mayrs	....	casting: Canada

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Judith Feller	....	truck costumer
Marie Hock	....	costumer
Patti Rempel	....	assistant costume designer
Roza Savvas	....	set costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Irene Blecua	....	assistant editor: Spain
Ascen Marchena	....	post-production assistant
Kristian Olsen	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ricky Arailza	....	musician: acoustic guitar
Emili Brugalla	....	musician: piano
Miguel Ángel Cordero	....	musician: double bass
Lucio Godoy	....	music producer
Farran James	....	musician: violin
Olvido Lanza	....	musician: violin
Manuel Martínez del Fresno	....	musician: cello
Chop Suey	....	composer: song "Humans Like You"
Montse Valle	....	musician: viola

Transportation Department
Frank Guadagno	....	driver: cast
Ben Liljedahl	....	transportation captain
Rico Rogers	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Barbara Chisholm	....	assistant production coordinator
Adela Donamaría	....	production secretary
Ashley Fester	....	production assistant
Covadonga R. Gamboa	....	production coordinator: Spain
Lola García	....	office manager
Jaye Gazeley	....	assistant location manager
Beatriz Gordo	....	assistant production accountant: Spain
Russ Hamilton	....	location manager (as Russ 'Moviegod' Hamilton)
John Knowlton	....	production assistant
Jane McKernan	....	production accountant
Peter Munro	....	location scout
David Rockwell	....	production accountant
Ana Sanz	....	secretary to producer
Paz Sufrategui	....	unit publicist
Denise Szabo	....	craft service
Denise Szabo	....	first aid
Abigail Tucker	....	production coordinator
Óscar Valero	....	production accountant: Spain
Anne Worrall	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• El Deseo S.A. (co-production)
• Milestone Entertainment (co-production)
• Antena 3 Televisión (in association with)
• Vía Digital (in association with)
• Alliance Atlantis Communications (in association with)
• Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC (produced with the participation of)
• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) (produced with the participation of)
• Cavco Worldmark (produced with the participation of)
• Movie Network, The (in association with)
• Astral Media (in association with)
• Super Écran (in association with)
• Movie Central (in association with)
• Corus (in association with)
• Miss Wasabi (in association with)
• My Life Productions Inc.

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Odeon Films (2003) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Company (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• TOBIS Film (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (video)
• ARP Sélection (France)
• Alfa Films (Argentina)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Shochiku Company (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Shôchiku Eiga
• Sony Pictures Classics (North America)
• Vanguard Cinema (2000) (USA) (all media)
• Vivarto (2007) (Poland) (all media)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

106 min | Argentina:107 min

Country:

Spain | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Chile:14 | Norway:A | UK:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | South Korea:15 | USA:R | Germany:6 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

El Deseo S.A.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Lee and Ann are at Lee's house and Lee reads Ann a passage from a book, Ann throws away the book irritated after a few sentences. In the next shot, the floor where the book should have ended up is empty.

Quotes:

Dr. Thompson:Dying is not as easy as it looks, you know, but there's no need for you to have to feel terrible all the time.

Movie Connections:

Features Mildred Pierce (1945)

Soundtrack:

God Only Knows

The bacon-y stink of Canadian film-making is all over this one...

When Americans make bad films, at least they are big and slick and full of CGI. This is what you get from Bad Canadian (Heavily Government Subsidized) film-making -- an insufferably unrealistic look at a young woman dying of ovarian cancer, and how she spends her last few weeks.

There are some fine actors here (Sarah Polley, Alfred Molina, Amanda Plummer) and I can't imagine how they got talked into this. Apparently no one involved -- actors, director, producers, script writers -- has ever even read about ovarian cancer, but they simply pulled it out of a hat. I lost my best friend to this disease and I am outraged at how its portrayed here.

A movie doesn't have to be a blow-by-blow depiction of realism, but this goes far beyond ridiculous. Diagnosed at 23 with stage 4 (metatastic) ovarian cancer, which has already spread to her liver and stomach, but Ann (Polley) is still full of energy, pretty, sexy and able to work a full-time night job. She goes to an emergency room after experiencing some pain, and the EMERGENCY ROOM doctor diagnoses her after an ultra-sound. HELLO? Where are the oncologists? Anybody ever heard of a BIOPSY? You can NOT diagnose cancer from an ultrasound -- you'd see the tumors of course, but have no way of knowing if they were benign or malignant. No MRIs, no CAT scans...gee, I heard that Canadian National Health insurance was skimpy, but this is ridiculous.

Instead of undergoing radiation and chemo (normal treatment, even if you are terminal this can prolong your life), Ann is given some "miracle pain pills" and sent on her way....not before the EMERGENCY ROOM doc agrees (having met her once for 10 minutes) that he will send her cassette tapes (of messages to her daughters) on their birthdays, every year...for fourteen years!!!!! Yeah, I am sure he's going to obligate himself to a total stranger for that long...obviously he doesn't treat any other terminal patients.

Having decided to make a list of what she wishes to accomplish before she dies (in a couple of weeks, no concern for how sick she will be), Ann chooses a lot of vain and silly, selfish things -- the chief of which is that she will have sex with a man besides her apparently deeply devoted, loving, handsome and sexy husband (Scott Speedman, in a thankless role) and make that new man fall in love with her. Fortunately, the ever ready Mark Ruffalo is SITTING AT THE NEXT TABLE and immediately fulfills her needs. My, isn't that convenient. And isn't it nice that she has the energy, sexual desire and NO PAIN that will make a vigorous new sexual relationship even possible while she is dying from terminal ovarian cancer....

Other posters have commented on the funniest bit in the whole film, when Ann scouts out a woman for her husband to marry after she is gone (apparently he will have no choice in the matter) and locates a nurse who has moved in RIGHT NEXT STORE (good thing she is young and pretty, and not fat and fifty). The nurse relates, quite seriously, a "tragic" story about a pair of dying Siamese twins -- A BOY AND GIRL!!!! -- which is of course, absolutely scientifically impossible...which any medical professional would know...this absolutely kills anything (what little is left) of believability. At first, I thought this was gonna be a long-winded joke, but no, it was told absolutely straight, as a tragic story.

The friend I was watching with and myself literally fell on the floor, in howling fits of laughter. Which made being "sad" at the rest of the film impossible.

I can only wish my friend who passed away from this horrible disease could have seen this, as laughter is the best medicine. Perhaps she is giggling helplessly on "the other side".

One of the worst films I have seen in recent years, and an absolute pie-in-the-face insult to anyone WITH cancer or who loves or has lost someone to cancer.