All My Life

All My Life

The film “All My Life” is an adaptation of the real-life story of a young couple whose wedding plans are disrupted by a diagnosis of terminal cancer, but it doesn’t grapple with big questions or give much more than cursory treatment to the physical and emotional tolls of cancer treatment. It has all the sheen of a Pottery Barn catalogue and all the depth of a “hang in there” greeting card, but as sad stories go about impossibly good-looking people figuring out how to make the most of their time together, it’ll do.

The morning after they meet at a sports bar for trivia night she hates running but wants to see him again so they’re running together anyway Solomon Chau (“Glee’s” Harry Shum Jr.) tells Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe) he cooks. She asks if he’ll cook for her. “You mean now?” “Now or never.”

And that soon becomes something like their motto, as these two quickly fall in love, move in together, stage a flash mob proposal and start planning their wedding (with Solomon in charge of the cooking).

Solomon falls sick. However, it’s a movie illness, so Shum still looks good with all his hair intact. And the doctors stop reassuring soon enough to start delivering their worst news as diplomatically as possible. First, it’s “the level of aggression is very concerning.” Then it’s “we’re moving into quality of life considerations.”

What does quality of life mean when you are in your 20s and in love? What does a wedding mean when it is not the beginning of the story, but the end? Aren’t happy endings supposed to last “ever after?”

Jennifer says that there are 27,375 days in an average lifetime but it’s only the ones where something special happens that we remember. She and Solomon try to cram a whole lifetime’s worth of memories into however many days they have left together including one spent on a Make-a-Wish-style wedding with a GoFundMe organized by their friends. Solomon worries that “people will just see a widow in white,” but Jennifer tells him, “I’m your bride and that’s all you’re allowed to see.”

Screenwriter Todd Rosenberg throws in a few cute moments as Solomon and Jennifer fall for each other and make their plans. There is the toothbrushing scene cuter than any romantic moment since Bring It On; there are fun negotiations over sped-up parameters (closet space, whose sofa will be kept) when they impulsively decide to move in together so Solomon can quit his terrible job and start working as a chef; and there is no clearer indication of how much this couple has had its priorities reordered than Jennifer taking a stain on her wedding gown completely calmly.

It is always nice watching attractive young people fall in love; it automatically works when they experience loss. But compared with films like After Everything or even Me Before You, Clouds hell, Love Story these characters’ challenges are colorless and their responses to them are superficial; their dreams for the future get as large as a big wedding with a fancy gown and a romp in a fountain. Solomon, who gave his gift of spices to the world, deserves better than this bland version of his story.

Watch All My Life For Free On Gomovies.