Miss You Already

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke returns to her dramatic roots for this tragicomic tale of female friendship, which almost plays like a sequel to Thirteen, Hardwicke's coming-of-age film about suburban teenagers. Jess meets Milly when her American family moves to London in 1986, and the two become fast friends. As the years pass, the pair share the same experiences, including attending rock concerts, where publicist Milly (now played by Toni Collette) meets musician Kit (Dominic Cooper), which leads to pregnancy and marriage. In time, the fashionable couple has a second child, while Birkenstock-sporting urban planner Jess (Drew Barrymore) has settled down with oil-rig worker Jago (Paddy Considine), but pregnancy eludes them. Then Milly finds out she has breast cancer, telling Jess before she informs Kit or her actress mother, Miranda (a blonde Jacqueline Bissett), who all offer their unconditional support. It's too bad that Hardwicke makes Jago into a drip who chastises his wife for spending time with someone who needs her more than he does, but fortunately he's not enough of a villain to detract from the unbreakable central bond between the two women that powers the film. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)