A Little Bit of Heaven: Cancer Meets Perfect

Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) is a successful woman who is happy with her life. Her boss (Steven Weber) gave her the big promotion at work, she sleeps with hot men who would easily settle down with her if she would let them, her friends are the type to support her through anything, and she’s got a great apartment and a great dog. But Marley hasn’t been feeling too well recently. She goes to the doctor and they put her under anesthetic to perform a procedure. While she’s under, she has a vision where God (as played by Whoopi Goldberg in Marley’s mind) tells her she is dying and that she gets three wishes. Marley thinks this is all a big joke so she wishes that she could fly, that she had a million bucks, and the third one is left unsaid; but it is made pretty clear that she wants to find real love. Whoopi agrees and sends Marley back to the hospital where she is then informed by super-hot Dr. Julian Goldstein (Gael García Bernal) that she has cancer.

What follows are the predictable events that take place within a narrative that has major illness as a central theme. Her mom (Kathy Bates) and dad (Treat Williams) come to help but end up being useless as this is something they can’t fix. Her friends are empathetic but ultimately non-understanding because this is something that can’t really be truly understood unless one goes through it. And of course, Marley goes through the full emotional range that comes with dealing with an affliction this serious.

While Marley is busy living her life and having emotional connections with her friends and family, she wins a free hang gliding lesson from a radio contest. And once she finally gets the courage up to tell her boss that she’s sick, he nods understandingly and suggests she cash in her life insurance policy for a million bucks since it happens to have a special clause where a dying cancer patient can do that. It seems that the all-knowing Whoopi is making it happen.

But what about the third wish, love? Well, right from the beginning, the fact that the steamy Gael García Bernal was cast as the weird fumbling oncologist kind of makes this point moot from the sheer obviousness of the casting. Especially since this is a Kate Hudson movie. He is going to be passionately in love with her in that special Latin way (am I right ladies?), and then she is going to have to figure her dumb white girl shit out until she realizes: hello! hot doctor! madly in love with you! 12 o’clock! And we the audience wait patiently for her to figure it out. And it’s pleasant when she does because then we are mildly relieved that she has figured it out and isn’t as dumb as we feared. Seriously, who questions Gael García Bernal?

There are moments that are supposed to be moving, that are supposed to show the rawness or hardship that comes with imminent death, but really this whole movie felt pretty Disneyland to me. Perfect girl with perfect teeth and hair gets a disease. Well it’s a good thing her whole life was set up before it happened so that she didn’t have to deal with any serious problems on top of the big C. I’ve known several people who have had cancer. Some survived, others did not. It is kind of a sick joke to smear this movie in their faces. I’m sure it’s really sad that Marley has been mad at her dad for a while, and it’s really great that she gets to resolve that conflict before she dies. But that type of thing doesn’t really resonate when you’ve seen people get eviction notices the day after returning home from a major surgery, or you’ve seen someone denied social services despite the fact that their income is 50% below the poverty line and they can’t feel or move the left side of their body, or if you’ve watched a mother of young children wilt away, leaving a pall over a once verdantly new family.

Of course, just because I have witnessed bigger tragedies doesn’t invalidate this film’s message. But it’s hard to give it any sort of positive review because on top of the protagonist having a nearly perfect life, GOD COMES DOWN AND GIVES HER THREE MAGIC WISHES TO MAKE HER PERFECT LIFE EVEN MORE PERFECT. It’s just utterly insulting—a slap in the face to anyone who has ever actually really been sick. The seriousness is underplayed, almost to the point of it seeming more like she has the flu than cancer. And the light-heartedness is the main focus where everything turns out all right even if there were some minor bumps in the road.

And all of this is a shame because the only thing wrong with this movie is the ridiculous assumption that the whole idea isn’t in glaringly bad taste. The acting is fine, the production value looks good, the characters gel well together and there is a strong emotional connection between them, and there are a few funny scenes that are nice (Peter Dinklage has a marvelous part that is enjoyable all on its own). But again, all of it is overshadowed.

This film should not be watched by anyone who has had cancer or who has known someone who has had cancer. This film is the well-person’s feel-good cancer movie, or the rich-person’s feel-good cancer movie, but it is definitely not for the average person. One would have to be blissfully ignorant or high in order to advocate that this film showcases a realistic portrayal of a very serious issue. Maybe that was the point—to provide hope through a crazy optimistic “what-if” scenario. But even if that were the case, it just seems way cruel and I don’t recommend it.