Five Feet Apart

Five Feet Apart starts out as a fairly effective and intelligent drama about cystic fibrosis.  The early scenes gave me a good feeling.  I was enjoying the performances of the two lead actors, and even felt like I was learning about the challenges of living with the disease.  But then, for absolutely no reason, the screenplay decides to dive right off the far deep end of melodrama, throwing one contrived situation after another to the point that it all leads up to a ludicrous climax.  Here is a movie that feels honest and real for about an hour, then abandons all subtlety and thought.

And yet, actor-turned-director Justin Baldoni starts things with such a clear vision.  It's a simple story about two teenagers fighting a deadly disease, their lives, their hopes, and how they bond with one another.  To further add to the effectiveness, we have two wonderful lead performances from Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse as the young lovers who grow closer, even though their disease forces them to keep a six foot distance from each other. (The title refers to the fact that they decide to cheat just a little, and only keep a five foot distance.) Even in these early stages of the film, there are some manufactured elements, such as the fact that these kids' parents seem to be virtually non-existent, the hospital staff pretty much lets them get away with murder, and Richardson's character has been provided with a gay best friend for no other reason than it's expected.  But, the performances and the film's tone keep the movie grounded in some sort of reality.  Little by little, the movie betrays that reality, and not only has the characters doing stupid things for the sake of the plot, but it throws the two lovers into the most forced third act action crisis you can imagine.  It's like the filmmakers sent home the original writers halfway through, and brought in some hacks to finish the screenplay.

But before all that happens, we are introduced to Stella (Richardson), who has lived with cystic fibrosis most of her life, lives in and out of the hospital, and is hoping for a lung transplant that could help add some years to her life.  She hosts a video blog on YouTube about her experiences and various medical procedures that she has to go through, which is a clever way to teach the audience about the disease.  Stella is fairly optimistic about her situation, but her smile hides a lot of pain.  One day, Stella meets a new patient named Will (Sprouse), who not only also has cystic fibrosis, but also carries a bacteria within him that could be possibly fatal if he came in contact with another patient.  Will has all but given up on life, but Stella reaches him, and before long, they're bonding.  Of course, they have to keep a certain distance from each other for Stella's safety. 

So, right there, we have a good set up for a tear jerker.  We have two kids who love each other, but cannot touch, kiss, or have any kind of physical contact with each other.  Why does this movie need so many other sob story elements added on top of this?  We have Stella hiding a secret pain concerning a family member, we have talk of survivor's guilt, we have the gay best friend who is also suffering from cystic fibrosis, and is afraid to love because whoever he loves would be burdened with his medical needs, we have a nurse who understands what Stella and Will are going through but won't let them endanger each other's lives...And then we have the climax.  Oh Lord, the climax.  It's the kind of thing that just keeps on building layers upon layers of forced contrivances to the point that you almost want to bail out. 

And yet, Five Feet Apart does have some moments that feel like they come from a genuine place.  I especially like how this movie does not back away from the realities of the disease it is covering.  These kids are sick, they are dying, and the movie never lets us forget it.  There are scenes where they look exhausted, or that they have all the weight of the world on their shoulders.  This is in stark contrast to a lot of dramas about sick teens we've had lately, where they are often beautiful and healthy looking until the script decides they should not be.  This movie has a very unglamorous and raw look and tone, which is why it's such a giant let down to see the movie go down the road of forced manipulation.  This is a movie that seems to promise hard truths, and instead gives us the usual song and dance.  It also forces us to believe that these reasonably intelligent kids would do things no kids in their position would ever do. 

By the end of it all, I felt like I was being jerked around.  The movie was trying to force the tears, instead of letting them come from this simple and heartbreaking situation that it had initially set up.  It didn't need all the generic soap opera antics, and mechanical plot manipulations.  I liked the movie enough when it was a simple story about two kids falling in love while facing their own mortality.  Then the film had to shut its brain off, and ruin the whole experience.  I hate when that happens.

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