True friendship shines in You're Not You

Hilary Swank (Conviction, Million Dollar Baby) delivers a moving performance as Kate, a suave, married, eminently successful classical pianist just diagnosed with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), with great support from Emily Rossum (Shameless) as Bec, a brash college student and would-be rock singer who can barely keep her wildly chaotic and messy affairs, romantic and otherwise, together.

Two disparate worlds collide when Bec takes a last-ditch job assisting Kate, just as Kate's marriage to Evan (Josh Duhamel) hits the skids, and both women come to rely on what becomes an unconventional, sometimes confrontational and fiercely honest bond.

If there's one reason to see this meaningful film about the true meaning of friendship, it's for the electrifying chemistry and heartfelt passion between Swank and Rossum, particularly when the clueless Bec is determined to become an intimate shadow to Kate - accompanying her and translating for her through the most bewildering and awkwardly comic circumstances.

Sensual, meticulous, wilful

The result is a camaraderie stripped down to the barest essentials of daily sustenance and late-night confessions. A sensual, meticulous, wilful Kate begins to rub off on whirlwind, spontaneous, free-spirited Bec - and vice versa. Both women find themselves facing down regrets, exploring new territory and subtly expanding their ideas of who they want to be.

It's indeed a feel-good film that shows to what extreme a true friend will go to support your hurt and pain.

Based on Michelle Wildgen's 2006 novel, it was adapted by Shana Feste (who wrote and directed Country Strong) and Jordan Roberts (Big Hero 6), and is under the sensitive direction of two-time Tony Award winner and theatre legend George C Wolfe, renowned for his work as a playwright and as the director of such lauded Broadway productions as Angels In America: Millennium Approaches and Bring In Da Noise/Bring In Da Funk, and films like Nights in Rodanthe.

"This is a story about two people confronting the truth in themselves," comments Wolfe. "Sometimes in life when you come up against a non-negotiable obstacle, whatever it might be, that obstacle becomes a chance for you to become another version of yourself. That's what I found so fascinating about You're Not You."

In addition to exploring a friendship that blooms under fire, Wolfe sees the film as exploring those hidden, contrary parts of our identities that don't always get the chance to reveal themselves. "The title, You're Not You, comes from something Kate says to Bec, but in many respects, it's about each of the characters. Kate isn't really Kate. Bec isn't really Bec. Evan isn't really Evan. Each of the characters is stuck playing a version of themselves - until they begin to see that there is a more complicated, more evolved and deeper version of who they can be inside themselves. In the movie's journey, they each become more of who they are."

Hilary Swank, known for attacking roles with extreme commitment and depth, and for playing a roster of challenging women - from a female boxer to Amelia Earhart - too complex to be easily summarised, committed not only to the role but came aboard as a producer, the project began moving swiftly ahead.

Instantly fell in love

"My producing partner Molly Smith and I read the book and instantly fell in love," Swank recalls. "It was a no-brainer for us to sign up. It's a journey of two people living in completely polar opposite worlds who find out they have much more in common than they think - and then help each other to become fully realised in the middle of the most unlikely circumstances."

Smith recalls that it was the thread of comedy, and of the powerful links we can have to strangers, running through the book that made if feel so alive. "There is a lot of humour in this piece, which is, at its core, is a beautiful story of friendship," she observes. "Kate and Bec enter each other's very different lives, create a sort of chaos and then find a truly deep and enduring connection."

That same tone came through in the script. "The script doesn't take the expected journey," says Smith. "The dialogue is irreverent and we had two amazing screenwriters: Shana Feste and Jordan Roberts, who were able to especially capture Bec's voice."

Wolfe was particularly drawn to the comic contrasts between Kate and Bec's lives before they collide: Kate with her refined perfectionism, Bec with her tornado-like constant motion.

She gave him sex, he gave her class

"The two of them brought to mind that Katherine Hepburn line about Fred and Ginger: 'She gave him sex, he gave her class,' and I was intrigued by how Kate is an overly focused human being, while Bec is an overly chaotic human being. Bec brings that chaos into Kate's life, which helps to liberate her, and Kate brings her focus into Bec's life, which helps to ground her. So that was the thing that I think I responded to foremost: these two women who end up forming an incredibly symbiotic relationship and how they get there."

The getting there takes both women through moments of absurdity, triumph and of bracing mortality, but Wolfe always saw You're Not You as reflecting back some of the lightness, humour and exhilaration that comes through even in life's darkest times.

He summarises: "I think it's a story of how, even in the presence of loss, people will discover power, strength and joy."

Read more about You're Not You and other new films opening this week at www.writingstudio.co.za