Not A Weak 'Weeks'

One of my favorite actresses, Sally Field, played the matriarch of a family of adult children, who is dying of cancer in "Two Weeks" (2006). Seeing her in this role reminded me a lot of her role on TV's "Brothers and Sisters", which is one of my favorite shows and which also premiered in 2006. On that show, as in this film, she is the mother of very different, very independent adult children. I also saw similarities between this film and "Steel Magnolias" (1989), which also starred Sally Field. In that film, her daughter is dying of cancer, while in this film it is she who is dying from the disease. In this film, she is not alone, receiving love and care from her children and less of that from her second husband. Her friends make tuna casseroles that most of her kids hate and come to comfort her and remember old times. My favorite moments were when Field answers questions asked by her documentary filmmaker son as he films her with his camera. He asks questions like who is her favorite of her four children and does she have regrets? It was nice to see her smile and be happy talking about her life while the more grim scenes showed her fighting so bravely to cling to life.  Field's children didn't even grieve or emote while she was dying, but only after she was gone which I found interesting. This was a sad movie with great dialogue that was very meaningful, but I didn't cry watching this as I thought I would as I often do watching these kinds of movies. It was a comedy as much as it was a drama, though, and the movie did make me laugh on a few occasions. I remember wanting to buy this for my own mom for her birthday or Christmas, but I never did. I'm glad I finally got the chance to see it, though.