Now Is Good (2012)
Certified: 12
Duration: 102 minutes
Directed by: Ol Parker
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine, Olivia Williams, Kaya Scodelario
KRS release

Now Is Good is an adaptation of the 2007 book Before I Die by Jenny Downham. The novel had been aimed at young adult readers and had caused quite a stir when it presented unusual and at times dangerous situations to a young audience.

The film by Ol Parker, writer of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, tackles the adaptation deftly, presenting us a film that will appeal to all those who usually line up for weepie movies and more.

The film, however, goes beyond being a simple weepie as it has been injected with moments that are rebellious and at times authentic while inducing our eye ducts for the obligatory tears.

Dakota Fanning is Tessa, a young girl on the verge of adulthood who has been diagnosed as being terminally ill and will soon pass away.

She has compiled a bucket list of stuff that she wants to do before dying – stuff that can be outlandish and wild, all topped up by the fact that first and foremost she wants to have sex and be a virgin no more.

The object of her affection is neighbour Adam (Jeremy Irvine) who has just been through an ordeal himself when he lost his father to cancer.

The film also takes into account Tessa’s family situation. She has divorced parents and her father (Paddy Considine) is in denial, wants the best for his daughter and is overprotective.

The mother (Olivia Williams), lives life by a different code and is much more accepting of certain things.

Irvine, fresh from War Horse, puts in a good enough screen presence and has enough on screen chemistry with Fanning to make hearts flutter.

Fanning meanwhile is progressing well from child star to bone fide all-English actress.

Kaya Scodelario who plays Zoey, Tessa’s best friend, is quite a screen grabber as she tries to help her friend work through all the items on the list.

While the focus is on the young cast, it is the acting that is thrown in by Considine and Williams that I found to be the film’s anchor, at times pulling the carpet from under the main couple.

The material from which the film is being adapted has enough Nicolas Sparks influence to give it that wide appeal. The presence of a list of stuff-to-do, crossed with terminal illness, obviously reminds one of The Bucket List (2007).

The difference here is less star power and more of a sad feeling of a life of promise that has yet to be fulfilled.

Parker manages to keep the film fresh, at times kitschy, at times poignant but, for its intended audience, the right bases are touched upon.

It is also refreshing to see how this terminally sick girl is not elevated to sainthood but, instead, wants to live life to the full, the way she perceives it before she departs to the hereafter.

Now Is Good excels in finding a balance between a teenage rebel’s aspirations and also the effect of a terminal illness on its victim and those around her.

This is a film that reminds us of how fleeting life can be and of the need to live life to the full. Now Is Good will make one appreciate life even more.