My Life Without Me

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My Life Without Me
Spanish poster
Directed by	Isabel Coixet
Produced by	Esther García Gordon McLennan
Written by	Isabel Coixet based on the book by Nanci Kincaid
Starring	Sarah Polley Amanda Plummer Scott Speedman
Music by	Alfonso Vilallonga
Cinematography	Jean-Claude Larrieu
Editing by	Lisa Robison
Release date(s)	2003
Running time	106 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

My Life Without Me (Mi vida sin mí) is a 2003 Spanish/Canadian film directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Mark Ruffalo, Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman,Leonor Watling and Alfred Molina. Based on the book Pretending the Bed Is a Raft by Nanci Kincaid, it tells a story of the dying process of a 23 year old woman who has a husband and two daughters. The film was produced by Pedro Almodóvar's production company, El Deseo.

The film won many international and festival awards, including:

the Genie Award (Canada) for Best Actress (Polley)
the Goya (Spain) for Best Adapted Screenplay (Coixet) and Best Song ("Humans Like You" by Chop Suey)

[edit] Cast

Sarah Polley– as Ann
Amanda Plummer– as Laurie
Scott Speedman– as Don
Leonor Watling– as Ann, the Neighbor
Deborah Harry– as Ann's Mother
Maria de Medeiros– as The Hairdresser
Mark Ruffalo– as Lee
Julian Richings– as Dr. Thompson
Jessica Amlee– as Penny
Kenya Jo Kennedy– as Patsy
Alfred Molina– as Ann's Father

[edit] Plot

Ann (Sarah Polley) is a hard-working 23 year old mother with two small daughters, an unemployed husband (Scott Speedman), a mother (Deborah Harry) who sees her life as a failure, and a jailed father whom she has not seen in ten years. She works nights as a janitor in a university she could never afford to attend, lives in a caravan in her mother’s backyard, and has no aspirations. Her life changes dramatically when after a medical check-up she is diagnosed with endometrial cancer and told she has only two months to live. Deciding not to tell anyone of her condition, using the cover of anemia, Ann makes a list of things to do before she dies.