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Movie: "Everything, Everything"
Director: Stella MeghieRating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Maddy is a young woman with an autoimmune disease known as SCID. Her body can't fight off infection, so she is forced to spend her whole life in a sterile house with very few comers and goers. She dreams of the outside world, and when she falls for Olly, the new boy next door, she is willing to do whatever it takes to be with him, including risking her life by doing the unthinkable: going outside.
"Everything, Everything," which could be alternately titled "Bubble Girl," is directed by Stella Meghie with a screenplay by J. Mills Goodloe, based on a novel by Nicola Yoon. It stars Amandla Stenberg as Maddy Whittier, who has just turned 18 and has never been outside. She has spent her entire existence inside her specially built house due to her severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID. She has had a weak immune system ever since she was a little child, and going outside may very well mean her death. Maddy's only human contact is with her just-so-happens-to-be-a-doctor mother Pauline, played by Anika Noni Rose, her lifelong nurse Carla, played by Ana de la Reguera, and Carla's daughter Rosa, played by Danube Hermosillo. Maddy dreams of going outside, but knows she can't, and hasn't ever been willing to risk it. All of this changes when she meets Olly, played by Nick Robinson, who has just moved in next door with his family from the east coast.
A movie about a person with a severe immune deficiency who falls in love with their neighbor?!?! We've never seen that before!!!!....well, as long as you don't count "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and/or "Bubble Boy." Okay, so maybe "Everything, Everything" isn't very original, but the protagonist is a young woman, so we guess that makes it fresh and new!!
This movie is exactly what you might expect it to be: a schmaltzy teen romance with a far-too-good-to-feel-true love interest. Olly is the first person of a similar age and the opposite sex who has ever paid attention to Maddy. For all we know, from what we are told, he's the first boy her age on their block. Luckily, he's perfect in every conceivable way! Chivalrous, smart, introspective, completely understanding of Maddy's condition, and oooooohhhh, his hair, even though he needs a haircut! The plot plays out straight down the romantic dramedy formula. There are no real surprises in the story, especially if you have seen either of the aforementioned movies about similar subjects.
In terms of performances, we can't say there's anything special about them. We liked Stenberg as Rue in "The Hunger Games," and here, gives a hot and cold performance. Sometimes, she's as stiff and emotionless as a board, and other times, she's crazy over-dramatic. We loved Robinson in "The Kings of Summer," and he's serviceable as the always dressed in black, borderline emo kid Olly. The dialogue they are tasked to deliver is often very, very cheesy and simplistic. Most of the time, the little exchanges they have as a couple make us roll our eyes and want to vomit, and we're happily married and in love. C'mon, no one talks like they do, but what do we know? We're just jaded adults and this won't matter for teenagers and hopeless romantics in the crowd.
We fully acknowledge that we are nowhere near the target demographic for "Everything, Everything." Hell, we're closer to 40 than we are to 18. This is one of those movies where there's nothing so atrociously bad that it's worth ranting about, but offers nothing the least bit memorable in terms of characters or subject matter and technically, has some questionable behind the scenes choices. Sure, it'll offer a googly-eyed, saccharine-filled viewing experience for the tween crowd, but it doesn't break the mold in any way, shape, or form, when it desperately could and should have. You won't be the least bit mad after watching this movie, but be prepared to forget it exists after a short amount of time.
My Rating: 4.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 4.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 46%
Do we recommend this movie: No.
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