Let's Talk : If I Stay (Movie)

I finally watched the If I Stay movie! I love the book(s) so much and I really wanted to see it in theaters but I didn't get the chance so I had to wait till it came out on DVD. It was worth the wait.

I found out about this movie earlier this year when I came across the trailer for the film. I clicked on it because it was titled "If I Stay" and I figured it was just a movie that had the same name as one of my favorite books. Then the trailer starts and you see a girl playing a cello in a fancy theater with an elaborate roof. I remember thinking, "Hey, what a coincidence, because in the book If I Stay, Mia also plays a Cello and she has an audition in a fancy theater." Then it turns out that the girl's name is also Mia and there is a car accident and etc. It slowly started clicking in my head and when I fully realized that this was the movie for the same book, I freaked out. If I Stay is one of my favorite books and I had no idea that it was being turned into a movie but apparently it was.

It's always a little nerve-racking(?) when one your favorite books gets turned into a movie. A part of you is extremely excited that there is going to be a movie but there's also that other part of you that wants to movie to be great and not sucky. Partially for your own sake, because as a fan you want to see a good movie, not a crappy one. And partially, for everyone else's sake because for so many people this will be their first exposure to this stories, they've never read the book, and so you want them to see a good visual representation of the stories otherwise they'll judge by the movie and assume the story is really bad when, in fact, it just wasn't translated well from page to screen.

I loved the If I Stay movie. I have no idea what someone who hasn't read the book might've thought of it but as a fan I was completely satisfied. Chloe Grace Moretz capture the essence of Mia beautifully and Jamie Blackley played a really good Adam. I loved the way they did the flashback scenes. The emotional moments translated really well. I was definitely getting teary towards the end. The Mia and Grandpa scene was perfect. I remember that scene from the book and how emotional it was in the book and it felt just as strong in the movie.

This was a successful page to movie translation. Obviously, as is always the case, there were some changes from the book but they weren't major changes that altered the story line in a way that we now had kind of a different story. I was okay with the changes, I didn't mind them.

If you haven't watched the movie or read the book, I will ALWAYS recommend reading the book first. Here's the trailer to get you excited: