A tale of love and loss

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Mabel Sieh
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Mabel Sieh |
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An adaptation of Ayelet Waldman's novel, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits deals with the complicated issues around love in difficult times.

Emilia (Natalie Portman) is a lawyer living with her husband Jack (Scott Cohen), and a stepmother to his four-year-old son, William (Charlie Tahan).

The film focuses on her struggle to fulfil her role as a good stepmother to William, who is indifferent to her existence and still trying to accept his parents' divorce.

To add to the stress, Emilia also lives with constant interferences from Jack's angry ex-wife Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow).

However, her toughest test comes when she loses her newborn daughter. The baby dies of sudden infant death syndrome and the exact cause of death remains unexplained.

Emilia secretly blames herself for killing the baby, who died in her arms after being fed. Director Don Roos has chosen to tell the story in a linear format, with some flashback scenes. The casting is perfect: Charlie Tahan's performance is impressive, as are Portman's and Kudrow's.

However, it is a taxing, emotional movie with some upsetting quarrelling scenes.

If you are feeling down, it's probably not the best movie choice because of the heavy subject matter. It will leave you with some unhappy thoughts about the realities facing many divorced families.

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