He said, she said: Deseret News critics sound off on 'Transformers,' 'My Sister's Keeper'

If men and women agreed on everything, movie-wise, there wouldn't be any need for Hollywood to create all those action-packed "testosterone adventures" for the guys and the so-called "chick flicks" for the ladies.

But there's still an obvious divide between the sexes when it comes to filmed entertainment.

This past weekend was a good indicator of that, with the Sandra Bullock comedy "The Proposal" taking the top spot at the box office, but the more male-centric comedy "The Hangover" making it a pretty close race.

So in an attempt to explain the male-female film schism, Deseret News movie critic Jeff Vice and theater critic Erica Hansen are back to offer their "he said/she said" takes on a supposed "chick flick" and a "testosterone adventure."

(Last year, their opinions differed on the hits "The Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia!")

Here are this year's results:

THE MOVIE: "My Sister's Keeper" (rated PG-13). An adaptation of the best-selling Jodi Picoult novel, the drama stars Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz.

HE LIKED: The cast. Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") is a terrific young actress, and there are so many talented people in the film (Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack and Emily Deschanel, among them). Even Diaz, who can be irritatingly perky, is subdued … and plays a character that's not always the nicest, most lovable one of this bunch.

SHE LIKED: The cast, I totally agree. I actually thought Cameron Diaz was great in this. I forgot she could act. I thought the difficult true-story is well-told, but it is the cast that makes it work.

HE DIDN'T LIKE: The film is pretty shameless and manipulative, and there are more than a few moments in which filmmaker Nick Cassavetes is clearly trying to wring tears from his audience by whatever means possible. Also, if there had been one more musical montage scene I might have screamed..

SHE DIDN'T LIKE: I love musical montages! It would be a decent "mellow-mood" soundtrack. I'm not so sure it's manipulative. I mean, it's a sad story … is that manipulative? But the movie does feel long. When I left, I was surprised to see it was under two hours, it felt longer.

THE CONSENSUS: Erica isn't sure why everyone thinks "people dying movies" are chick flicks. "I was actually dreading this movie as I've never been one to like this type." But she was pleasantly surprised. "I actually left the movie feeling quite grateful for my health and that of my family's." As for Jeff, he didn't hate the film nearly as much as he thought he would. "As maudlin and treacly as it was, the film's got its effective moments. It will probably appeal to its target demographic — women," he said.