Five Feet Apart movie review

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B-

IN A NUTSHELL: She has Cystic Fibrosis. So does he. That’s why they have to stay six feet apart. What if they’re Five Feet Apart? Yes, this is another one of those sick-teens-in-love movies we’ve seen many times before. This film is based on the book by Rachael Lippincott.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some teenage girls are looking at clothes and one of them asks, “Too trampy or not trampy enough?”
There is talk of “doing it”, “foreplay”, and “using protection.” Stella and Will talk about whether or not they like sex and where they want to have it.
Lots of texting, so young kids who can’t read won’t know what’s being said.
A bi-racial teen couples
Some profanity, including 2 F-bombs (both times by Haley Lu Richardson).
Name calling.
Talk of a teenage gay couple.
A teenager goes skydiving.
The parents are never around their sick kids in the hospital until the end of the film.
Talk of a girl who dies while cliff-diving.
A teen boy and girl undress in front of each other down to their underwear.
Teenagers drink alcohol.

THEMES:

Communication
Human touch
“Life is too short to waste a second.” – Stella (Haley Lu Richardson)

THINGS I LIKED:

Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, and Moises Arias all did a great job.
I was happy to see English actress Claire Forlani, even though her role and screen time were so small. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her in anything. She’s so pretty and I thought she was especially lovely in Meet Joe Black.
On Stella’s “To Do” list, she wrote “Afterlife…?” I think it’s really good to think about it. What do YOU think happens after we die?
A friend of mine has a son with Cystic Fibrosis. He told me they have spent a fortune trying to save their son. So far, he’s doing great! You’ll learn some medical facts about Cystic Fibrosis in the film. In fact, the actors and director worked with Claire’s Place Foundation so that they could ensure they were depicting Cystic Fibrosis accurately.
A truly unselfish sacrifice is made.
Will’s character does a lot of artwork, which was actually created by Caesar Meadows, who has a comic strip called Mumbeaux Gumbo.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I’m sure the book is better. I hope so. I didn’t really like either of the two main characters. They’re both snarky, foul-mouthed, and kind of jerky. Stella is super hostile to Will when they first met for some reason. The book probably explains it better, but she just looked like a jerk.
There’s a lot of talk of mucous and you see Stella spit massive chunks out of her mouth. Ick.
In the movie, they keep reminding us that the rule is for Cystic Fibrosis patients to stay six feet apart.
Stella is a complete control freak.
The sick teens do something dangerous to their health and Poe rationalizes it by saying, “I’m sorry, but it was fun!” as if that makes it ok.
The movie was so predictable that I never shed a tear. I feel bad about that because I know a lot of people who did cry. If you do, you can quickly run out of the theater to get some tissues in the restroom since there aren’t any end-credit scenes.
If you’ve seen the trailer, you have pretty much seen the entire movie.
If being around each other was so dangerous, they could have easily had an online relationship and not put each other at such a dangerous risk.

FUNNY LINES:
* “Don’t get soppy. You know I can’t let a girl cry alone.” – Poe (Moises Arias)

INTERESTING LINES:

“We need that human touch from the one we love even more than air to breathe.” – Stella
“When you live with Cystic Fibrosis, so much is taken from you.” – Stella
“There’s this one theory I like. It says ‘To understand death, you have to lick it first.’” – Stella
“This whole time I’ve been living to do my treatments, instead of doing my treatments so I can live. I want to live.” – Stella

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

The Fault In Our Stars