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Starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, David Morrissey, James Frain.
Directed by Anand Tucker.
Hilary DuPre is a flute playing prodigy, winning awards at local talent shows. Her spunky little sister Jackie is beginning to play the cello. Her mom says that if Jackie ever wants to go with her sister she will have to be as good as she is. Jackie starts playing the cello with an obsession, constantly practicing and thinking about playing when she's at school or at the supper table. Soon, she is winning medals right along with Hilary. But the sisters are still close. As a young adult, Jackie (Watson) gets her first professional recital and is a smash. She starts touring, going all over Europe. Meanwhile, Hilary (Griffiths) cannot get her career off the ground, struggling to pass her music exams with an insufferable teacher. But she meets a man named Kiffer (Morrissey) impressed with her work, and her. And they marry, living on a nice little cottage in the country. Jackie eventually marries too, to an Argentine pianist (Frain), and they both tour together to great acclaim. One day out of the blue, Jackie shows up at Hilary's home, distraught, depressed but not talking about why. After some coaxing from Jackie, Hilary permits her to sleep with her husband. But Jackie eventually leaves to go back to her husband, and soon discovers she has multiple sclerosis. The movie shows Jackie dying a painful, miserable, quick death from the disease, but she actually lived until 1987 and reportedly spent much of her time teaching students and campaigning for MS research until her death. The movie is based on a biography A Genius In The Family written by Hilary and their brother Piers. It has generated plenty of controversy because it reveals Jackie's relationship with Hilary's husband in 1970, and generally portrays Jackie as needy and self-absorbed, always having to get her way, and Hilary as the forever giving sister, who would do anything for Jackie. Jackie's friends, and the rest of the DuPre family see things differently, to the degree that the DuPre family reportedly has experienced a falling out. The film is divided into about four parts - Jackie and Hilary growing up as kids, Jackie's declining years with multiple sclerosis and adulthood from Hilary's point of view, the same events from Jackie's point of view. For example in Hilary's section, the family anxiously opens a package from Jackie only to find clothes to be washed - the act of a selfish child. From Jackie's point of view, she sent them home so her Mom could return them with the smell of home, to reduce the loneliness. In Hilary's section, Jackie leaves her husband at the peak of their success to see Hilary on their farm, and demands to have sex with her husband, which she reluctantly, but unselfishly allows. From Jackie's section, we learn that she leaves her husband briefly after a gruelling tour because she is beginning to feel the effects of her multiple sclerosis, and it is starting to affect her playing. And it scares her, so she retreats to the comfort of her sister. The best parts of the movie are from Jackie's section. They show a fragile artist with a love-hate relationship with her cello, unhappy with the all-consuming demands performance and stardom put on her life. But it also shows the joy she experienced with the music, such as when she and her husband play a rocking ditty from the Kinks. The movie would have been greatly improved concentrating on the loneliness of stardom and the negative side of genius. The parts told from Hilary's viewpoint give an impression of woman envious of her sister's genius and success. The effect of the dual viewpoint presentation is we don't know exactly what to believe about Jackie and her relationship with Hilary. And what is up with the "everything will be all right" that both Hilary and Jackie say to one another. Everything is not alright. Despite its limitations, the film is greatly enhanced by another great performance by Emily Watson. She dominates the screen whenever she's on it with an intensity and energy few other performers ever match. Rachel Griffiths is also excellent, delivering an understated performance of a woman who loves her sister, but is envious of her success, and is unable or unwilling to stand up to her. The younger versions of the sisters are also quite good, showing a more balanced relationship between the sisters. The movie could have relied less on Hilary's one-sided view of their relationship, but it is still worth seeing for the excellent performances and heartfelt music.   
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