I DO NOT WANT TO SAY IT is funny, but it is interesting the way things get put into perspective when a person discovers they have a disease. With certainty I can tell you I would probably “space out” for a time before coming back to reality. When I had a health scare over a year ago, I remember getting the news in a phone call while I was at the movies. After hanging up and walking back into the theater, I spaced out and could not recall what I had just seen when the film finished. Later, I came out of my daze and planned a course of action. That is the thing about disease; it can motivate certain people to stop procrastinating about some things in their lives. I do not know if it was due to the movie The Bucket List, but ever since that film I now hear people talk more about their bucket lists; what they have on it and what they hope to accomplish before they die. There was a time when conversations about death and dying were not discussed; I can remember being told no one wants to talk about something so unpleasant. These days more and more individuals convey their desire to do something right away because one never knows what tomorrow will bring.      IN MY WORLD I WAS FORTUNATE that diseases did not come to the forefront until I was an adult living on my own. I remember a mother dealing with a fatal disease while continuing to raise her young children. There also was a friend of the family that found out she had a debilitating disease. After going through multiple tests, she decided to pack up her house and move to a climate that would be kinder to her body. She wound up living her life as comfortably as possible. I just do not know what circumstances take place to make a person either fight back their disease or ignore it and live the rest of their life as stress free as they can. There is a gentleman I know who upon hearing his diagnosis decided he did not want to do any further testing or remedies. He felt the treatments would greatly reduce his quality of life. An acquaintance of mine is furious with her sister because the sister had health issues she ignored for almost one year. By the time she finally went to the doctor her disease had spread further than it needed to go. No one can judge another person on how they react to getting distressful news; one can only support them. See how it is done in this dramatic comedy.      ALL MARTHA, PLAYED BY DIANE KEATON (The Family Stone, And So it Goes), wanted to do was live her life out peacefully when she decided to move to a retirement community. Her neighbor Sheryl, played by Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom), did not see it quite that way. With Celia Weston (Dead Man Walking, After.Life) as Vicki, Alisha Boe (13 Reasons Why-TV, Paranormal Activity 4) as Chloe and Charlie Tahan (I Am Legend, Charlie St. Cloud) as Ben; this movie had a cast that deserved a better script. The message was right but the delivery of it was embarrassing. I did not see anything creative or new in the story; all the antics were predictable, and I have to say pretty lame. There were a couple of times where I even cringed due to the level of ridiculousness in the scenes. I do not know if it is funny, sad or ironic that this cast wound up in this picture. The reason I say this is because I am sure none of the actors would want this movie to be the public’s final memory of their acting career.

1 ¾ stars