Five Feet Apart

Five Feet Apart

Starring Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias, Kimberly Hebert Gregory

Directed by Justin Baldoni

The Story:
Stella Grant (Haley Lu Richardson) is a teenager who has cystic fibrosis, and has to return to the hospital for treatment, where she meets fellow CF sufferer Will Newman (Cole Sprouse).  The two share the disease, but have widely differing ways of dealing with it - Stella is regimented, sticks to her treatments like clockwork, and needs everything neat and orderly; Will is a rebel when it comes to his treatments (since he has b. cepacia, which means he can't get a lung transplant like Stella can), and he defies the doctors and everyone else by living more recklessly.  Stella forces Will to take his medications, and he agrees to do so if he can draw her.

The two begin growing closer, to the dismay of their Nurse Barbara (Kimberly Hebert Gregory), who constantly remind them that they must remain six feet apart so as to not catch each others' diseases.  Despite this, they decide to steal a foot from CF and move five feet apart, and, along with Stella's childhood friend (and another CF sufferer) Poe (Moises Arias), decide to spend as much time together as they can despite Barbara's misgivings.  Their romance threatens to kill them both, but they both desire to come closer together even knowing the risk.

The Synopsis:
Pretty much as it is with every doomed love story, there must be something that threatens the relationship.  Back in the way olden days, it was embattled families that threatened a relationship ("Romeo and Juliet").  Back in the olden days, it was biracial prejudice ("Guess Who's Coming to Dinner").  Nowadays it's relatively unimportant who your family is, or if you're dating someone from a different race (mostly), so Hollywood needs a new barrier to separate young lovers, and that barrier is something that's virtually impossible to break - illness.

In "A Walk to Remember," Mandy Moore's character suffers from leukemia.  "The Fault in Our Stars" has both the leads suffering from cancer.  "Everything, Everything" finds Amandla Stenberg suffering from an immune disorder that prevents her from leaving her house.  "Midnight Sun" deals with Bella Thorne dealing with xeroderma pigmentosum, which means she can't go out in sunlight.  Now, we feature two young, attractive teens dealing with cystic fibrosis, as well as falling in a seemingly-doomed relationship.

Cystic fibrosis is a disease of the lungs that produces unusually thick mucus that limits the victims' breathing, and without a lung transplant it's fatal.  Those suffering from CF must remain at least six feet apart from one another, because it's easy for them to catch the others' bacteria that the body can't fight.  It's a crippling, debilitating disease that severely limits the life expectancy of those suffering from it, and thankfully director Justin Baldoni treats the disease in a thoughtful, somber matter instead of glorifying it or making it less important.

"Five Feet Apart" centers on young lovebirds Stella and Will, who meet in the hospital as they share the same disease, and the limitations it puts on them.  They can't touch each other, and must stay at least six feet apart from one another.  Stella is a very stern, practical, OCD-type individual who strictly schedules her medicines, and has a daily check-list of what to do, as she suffers from survivors guilt over a previous family disaster.  On the opposite end, Will doesn't much care about his regimen, goes out to sit on the roof of the hospital, and generally sets out to break all the rules, because his CF is one that prohibits him from ever receiving a lung transplant.  Of course, as polar opposites do, the two become attracted to one another and bring out the best in both of them - but in doing so they could be dooming themselves to an early fate.

The film shines mostly on Haley Lu Richardson, who truly comes into her own as Stella, and who captivates the screen.  She plays the role with fierce determination and resolve, a young girl wise beyond her years, who sees every crisis as an opportunity to better herself.  She informs her YouTube followers about CF and her treatments, and always maintains a bright, sunny demeanor, yet all of that masks a hidden pain that she doesn't show verbally, but you can tell through Richardson's powerful expressions.  She grows tired of having CF stealing from her, so she decides to steal something back - one foot of intimacy between herself and Will, which is admirable for a personal victory, but clearly not advisable for life longevity.  Still, when she announces her decision to steal back one foot, I couldn't help but cheer on the inside, due to her incredible likability.

Apart from that, there isn't much else to cheer about here.  The script is tired and uninspired, offering cliches at every turn, and repetitive expositional dialogue (if you played the drinking game every time someone mentions "six feet apart," you'll be wasted twenty minutes in, and will have to go to the hospital for alcohol poisoning before the end credits roll) that muddies down an otherwise stellar performance by Richardson.  Her star-crossed lover Will is your stereotypical bad boy, but this time crippled by the same disease.  Cole Sprouse is all grown up, and he does give a decent performance, but he doesn't really step out from the generic ne'er do well-turned-softie character you see in thousands of films like this.  The film is extremely polished and beautiful, even though the main characters suffer from a crippling disease (the actors are both gorgeous even at their weakest, the hospital is the most upscale hospital ever - they even have a rec room with a pool table and a swimming pool).

Then there's the final third act, which made me realize that all the good feelings and emotions I was feeling before was only a setup for a clearly emotionally scarring finale that felt like a cheap emotional ploy instead of a fluid narrative.  Characters make insane decisions that make absolutely no sense, leaving you to really wonder why you cared about any of them in the first place, not to mention the fact that you feel emotionally manipulated by the end of it.  Up until that point, despite its many mediocre flaws, I was wholly invested in the characters - and after that, I couldn't care less about any of them.  It was a rough right turn that sent the film careening into a wall when it could've sailed off into the sunset.

The Summary:
Despite a strong performance by Haley Lu Richardson, "Five Feet Apart" is bogged down by a generic script, generic characters, and a hackneyed third act that makes you feel emotionally manipulated.

The Score: B-