Five Feet Apart
Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias
Directed by: Justin Baldoni
Rated: PG-13
In the cinematic world, there’s one genre that certainly isn’t lacking in quantity of releases, and that’s the hospital romance. This genre kicked off with the Nicholas Sparks phenomenon of the early 2000s. When NSF set in (Nicholas Sparks fatigue), The Fault in our Stars was released at the perfect moment to recapture everyone’s attention. I admit that The Fault in Our Stars is a well made and emotional film about two teens finding love while battling cancer. Since its release in 2013, there’s been a major increase in films with a very similar subject matter, including Me Before You, Everything, Everything, and Midnight Sun. This genre isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. In fact, just this weekend, another was added to the list called Five Feet Apart.
Five Feet Apart is the story of two teens, Will (Cole Sprouse) and Stella (Haley Lu Richardson), who are in the hospital undergoing treatment for cystic fibrosis. They are complete opposites in almost every way. Stella is a control freak, organizing every second of her day. Will doesn’t plan anything and can barely even see the point in doing his treatments half of the time. Despite all of their differences, the two still find common ground over their shared diagnosis and find maybe they aren’t so different after all. They begin to fall in love but must keep a safe distance of 6 feet from each other so they won’t exchange any harmful bacteria due to their illness. Can their love survive?
Unfortunately, this movie can’t survive bad directorial choices. The first two acts are decent enough. Sure, they have their fair share of clichés, but they remain entertaining and watchable. Then, the third act takes a nosedive into ridiculous territory. I’m not sure if I should blame director Justin Baldoni or the screenwriters for the outlandish final 30 minutes of Feet Feet Apart, but it is truly bad. Without spoiling anything, I can say the lead characters change their personalities to make ridiculous decisions to serve a more dramatic third act narrative. Trust me; it will frustrate you.
Something that is not frustrating are the lead performances by Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse. The two leads have impressive chemistry with each other that helps lift the soap opera level script. There’s no doubt that many tween girls leaving the theater were probably there to see Cole Sprouse. I can’t blame them. I’m 23 and still watch Riverdale for that reason. What can you do?
Former Disney actor Moises Arias also appears as Stella’s best friend, Poe (also diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis), who encourages the teens’ forbidden relationship. He provides lighthearted moments when things can get a little too dark.
I would be interested to see how a Cystic Fibrosis patient felt about this movie. In my opinion, it seemed the actors were considerably convincing in their portrayals. However, I’m sure some things were not 100% accurate to the diagnosis.
Although the three leads succeed in getting the audience to become invested in the storyline, many question marks surround their characters. In the first act of this movie, I had no idea of anyone’s age. No explanation was ever given, and no adults were ever around. All three leads look about 23-25, so I assumed that was their age. Then, Poe explains he is afraid to get into relationships because he never knows if his partner or his parents will pay his medical bills. Another reason to believe they are in their early 20’s. That is not the case. The movie suddenly goes on to say they are all under 18. Seriously?! You’re all under 18, but your parents never come to the hospital, and you’re discussing having your boyfriend (who’s under 18) pay for your medical bills?! What world does this movie exist in? Why does no one’s mom or dad come to the hospital when they’re having surgery? What 17-year-old is going to pay for medical bills? What is this logic?
For a little while, Five Feet Apart is a cliché, yet watchable film. However, it’s ludicrous third act takes it to a level that I cannot recommend. Unfortunately, this is a film that leaves you more frustrated than emotionally affected.
My Rating: 5/10
*All images belong to CBS Films