Review: ‘Miss You Already,’ with Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, tries too hard

The opening scene of “Miss You Already” finds a pregnant woman in the throes of labor, but the shift away from that hospital room doesn’t end the huffing, puffing and pushing. The film’s insistence on laughter through the tears too often feels strained.

The movie, written by Morwenna Banks and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, winds back to tell a story that celebrates female friendship. Given that the women at the center of the comic drama are played by Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore — charismatic performers who can effortlessly embody wit, warmth, ferocity and tangled emotions — there is no need to try so hard.

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Filtering its love story through the prism of illness — breast cancer, to be specific — addresses the clinical facts head-on: the bruised veins, vomiting and hair loss, the tubes and scars. For Collette’s Milly, who has inherited a strong sense of vanity from her actress mother (Jacqueline Bisset, terrific), the disfiguring effects of her treatments are especially painful. She lashes out, throws tantrums and engineers a road trip with spontaneity that feels utterly manufactured.

Barrymore plays the less flashy Jess, the Birkenstock to Milly’s Louboutin — a contrast captured in a sharp, lovely exchange. Several such moments use the women’s gallows humor to convey the depth of their bond. The film’s most affecting element, though, is Jess’ steadying gaze. In a way that’s never self-congratulatory, Barrymore makes her naturally maternal, even as Jess struggles with fertility charts.

Dominic Cooper (as Milly’s husband) and Paddy Considine (Jess’ boyfriend) do what they can, but the movie treats them more as lifestyle accouterments than fully fleshed characters. This is Jess and Milly’s story. It ends on a note of fluidity and grace that makes you wish it had been told with fewer frenetic rampages and less forced whimsy.

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“Miss You Already.”

MPAA rating: PG-13 for thematic content, sexual material, language.

Running time: 1 hour, 52 minutes.

Playing: In limited release.