If I Stay

A talented teenage cellist (Chloë Grace Moretz) lies in a coma after an auto accident kills her family. She has an out-of-body experience, reliving her past and her budding romance with a local rock star (Jamie Blackley) while deciding whether she wants to live or die. Adapted by Shauna Cross from Gayle Forman's novel and directed by R.J. Cutler, the movie (like the book) uses the out-of-body gimmick to inject suspense and a supernatural charge into what would otherwise be a pretty bland and unexceptional story. But only churlish folks will pick nits: The movie is an efficient and satisfying teen tearjerker, well acted by beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes and speaking sensitive thoughts. Joshua Leonard and Mireille Enos play Moretz's loving parents, Stacy Keach her distraught grandfather.